Not Another Teenage Prank
by TheDudeLordOfFantasy
Summary: Charlie helps an old friend by giving a lecture to one of her high school classes, but what happens when the kids pull out guns. These kids are not fooling around anymore...COMPLETE!
1. What I Go to School For

Disclaimer: Nothing in this story is mine besides the plot and all original characters.

A/N: Ok I had this dream the other night and Charlie was in it and there was a gunfight at my old school so I decided to add onto the dream and share because I began to wonder what would happen…

* * *

Prologue

Charlie was surprised when he got the call from Susan Fault two days ago. She had been one of his best students and graduated head of her class. She hadgotten a job as a math teacher for Washington Memorial High School; a local public school in a small rundown part of LA. She enjoyed her job but recently she noticed that one of her classes wasn't doing as well as they were in the beginning of the year. When she asked them why they were doing so poorly they said they didn't' think that math could relate to the real world.

And that's why she called Charlie.

Charlie gave a lecture in each of his classes explaining how math _is_ the real world and that nothing would exist without it. Susan called Charlie to ask if he would give that speech to her class to see if it opened their closed minds. Charlie of course couldn't resist explaining the importance of math to people and told her that he would be happy to.

* * *

He was biking over to Washington Memorial during his free period and was still marveling that Susan remembered all that he said five years earlier. He was afraid that he'd be late but now glancing at his watch henoticed that it wasonly 1:56 andrealized that he'd make it therejust a few minutes late. 

He approached the school, quickly chained his bike to the fence and ran up the steps with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He found classroom # 104 easily and looked through the window to make sure he had the right room.

He saw his former student exactly the way he remembered. She was slightly shorter than he was, her blond hair was put up into a bun, and she wore glasses that you'd expect a librarian to wear that hid soft blue eyes. She was wearing a black turtleneck and skirt that went down to her knee. That was the Susan Charlie knew five years prior.

Some things never change.

He was out of breath but only nine minutes late for the class. Not bad considering how far he had to bike. He straightened his dark green tee shirt under his thin black dress shirt and looked down at his jeans and tennis shoes. Did he dress too casual?

Before he had a chance to ponder that Susan opened the door and smiled at him.

"Professor Eppes," she greeted. "It's so nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too Susan and please call me Charlie. You're not my student anymore" He smiled at her.

"Alright Charlie. Come in," she opened the door wider to admit him and ushered him to the front of the classroom. He placed his backpack on the desk in front of him and turned to face the rowdy class.

"Class!" Susan said shouting over the noise, which slowly subsided as the students saw the visitor in the room. "That's better," she said softer, hands on her hips. "Now class I want to introduce you to a very interesting person." She walked over to Charlie and put a hand in his shoulder. "This is Professor Charles Eppes."

Charlie waved his hand shyly and blushed. He never really liked being introduced to very large groups of people. He heard a couple of girls whispering and giggling quietly in the back of the room and his blush deepened.

"He's a mathematics professor at CalSci and was my teacher when I went there," she continued. "I've asked him to come here today to illustrate why math is so important in life. So I'm going to let him explain." She walked to the side of the room and leaned against the wall giving Charlie room to work.

Charlie opened his bag and pulled out three things; a daisy, a nautilus shell, and a framed picture of the solar system. He set them next to each other on the desk and turned back to the class. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Susan answered it.

A little old woman with gray hair was standing on the other side. "Excuse me Ms. Fault but you have a phone call from your sister."

"Oh," she said sounding surprised. "Thank you Mrs. Alderman." The lady bustled away as Susan turned to Charlie. "Do you mind if I step out for a few minutes?"

"No, of course not," Charlie said.

"Thank you. I'll be right back." And with that she left Charlie alone with her class.

Charlie looked back at the students when he noticed that they were all positioned in a particular fashion. In the first few rows of students were the ones who wanted to learn. He knew this because they all had their notebooks open and their pens were ready to write. And he knew that the rest of the class had probably dubbed this group the nerds.

In the middle of the room was the group that Charlie recognized as the almighty popular group that Don was always a part of. They were the cool people with the cool clothes and the beautiful faces. The jocks mingled in with them and some of them were trying to act cool by wearing those expensive clothes and by gelling their hair to perfection. 'Oh the fashion of today's world', Charlie mused silently to himself.

And in the back, not even filling in the entire few rows, were about half a dozen kids wearing ratty looking clothes and had eyes that were dark and seemed haunted. They looked like the kids that Charlie saw in a case file that he helped Don work on. It had to do with when and where gang rallies would occur in downtown LA. They all wore almost identical clothing. White wife-beaters and jeans.

Charlie remembered when he went to high school with Don. His brother wanted nothing to do with him. He tried to think of what group he'd be in now and decided somewhere between a nerd and an outcast. No one wanted anything to do with him when he was in school and he didn't have any friends. But that was ok because he became more intent on his schoolwork.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a student's whisper from somewhere around the room.

"I'm sorry," he said realizing that he'd spaced out again. "I was just thinking about when I went to high school. I was much younger than you were but that doesn't matter. Ok about math…" He was going to continue and start explaining what he'd come to explain but he was interrupted by a voice.

"How were you younger than us? Don't all people start high school at the same age," a boy sitting in the cool section of the class asked leaning back in his chair. His blond hair was spiked to perfection and his clothes definitely were new. He had a smirk on his face and Charlie knew that he was a class clown.

A few people snickered at his question.

"What's your name?" Charlie asked not in the least put out.

"Pete Haddix," the boy said still smirking.

"Well Mr. Haddix I started high school when I was nine years old, which was slightly younger than you."

"Why did you start school so young?" another voice asked. This time a pretty tan skinned, blond girl asked the question popping her gum.

"And your name is…" Charlie waited for a response from the girl.

"Ashley Rogers," she said popping her pink gum again.

"Well Ms. Rogers, lets just say I understood things quicker than most other kids my age and they kept putting me ahead," Charlie said. "Ok so back to math."

He started slowly pacing back and forth in front of the room.

"Did you know that you use math every day; probably without even realizing it?" he asked stopping his pacing to look at them.

No one moved.

"You do." He insisted as he noticed their blank faces. "OK let me give you a few examples. Telling time, handling money, finding out what temperature it is, even changing the channel number you're on while you're watching television. All of those include numbers. So you see math is everywhere."

The children still didn't respond just stared at him blankly. Charlie then realized that more than half the class didn't want to be there.

He turned to the objects on the desk. "Does anyone know what the objects here have in common?"

No one answered. "Any guesses?" He stood there for a few more seconds before anything happened.

A petite girl in the front row with her auburn hair in pigtails and her large glasses askew raised her hand.

"Name?" he asked pointing to her.

"Abby Pentser," she said quietly.

"What do you think they have in common Ms. Pentser?"

"Well, they all spiral," she said quietly.

"Exactly," he said and he smiled. He picked up the flower and showed the class the spiraling sequence with his finger. "The number of pedals in each row is the sum of the proceeding two rows. It's the Fibonacci Sequence."

The class looked at him curiously for a second before he realized that he had to explain.

"Leonardo Fibonacci was a twelfth century mathematician and he founded this sequence. The Fibonacci Sequence, in its boiled down form, is a math equation consisting of specific numbers. These numbers are quite interesting because they occur throughout both nature and art. So for example…"

He turned around to write the beginning of the sequence on the board. He didn't notice the movement from the back of the room as half a dozen kids opened their bags.

He was still jabbering about Leonardo Fibinnaci so he didn't hear the clicks of whatever they were fiddling with. He had no forewarning about what was to come.

_BANG _

_

* * *

_

A/N: I've been working on this for a long time now and I just suddenly thought why not post it. I have five chapters I think almost finished but it may be awhile. I started writing this after the episode where Charlie started talking about Leonardo Fibinnaci and Terry was still Don's main partner then so I think I'm gonna keep going with that because that's how I started it.

Oh ad like I said before this was based on a dream I had. The last school I went to was a small Catholic grammar school. So my dream was actually humorous. There were a bunch of 1st graders running around with guns shooting people (which I find funny looking back on it) but then randomly Don and Charlie ran up and down the hallway. So that is the basis of this fic and my inspiration.

OK weird! Last night I had a dream that one of my friends died by a gunshot in the same situation. woah...now my fics are controlling my dreams...really bad dream. woke up screaming!

Please review because I put my heart into this and have taken a lot and lot of time for this.

Thankies!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	2. Teenage Kicks

Disclaimer: None of the characters from CBS's "Numb3rs" are mine and I claim no ownership over them. All the original characters, settings, and circumstances are mine though. Okay so no one can yell at me now…

* * *

Chapter One

The sound was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire building. It was so loud that it was able to tear Charlie out of his world of math and back into the high school classroom he was in.

A few screams sounded and Charlie whipped around to find five students out of their seats holding Glock 19's. One child's was pointed at the ceiling where he had fired it.

"Everyone on the ground!" he shouted. "Away from the windows and doors! Everyone on the fucking ground and in the center of the room! Now!"

Two of his other colleagues moved the desks out of the center of the room and blockaded the doors, while another closed the blinds on the windows. The fourth held her gun at her classmates, who hurriedly scuttled on the floor to the center of the room.

"That means you too, Professor Eppes." The leader said his name mockingly directing his gun at Charlie, who was on the ground under the chalkboard.

Charlie started to hasten towards the group, still on his knees, when the teen sent a kick that hit him directly in the face. His head snapped back and hit the floor. He got to his knees and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as spots danced before his eyes. It came back covered in blood from a cut lip.

"Move!" he shouted at the mathematician. "Nobody talk!"

Once they were all in the center of the room Charlie saw a wide-eyed Susan through the window in the door.

'Get help,' he mouthed at her.

She ran down the hall and a few seconds later the fire alarm sounded. He could faintly here people in the other class rooms speed out of the school but no one in classroom number 104 moved.

He looked up through the noise to see the five captors talking about something quietly as they held their guns at them. They weren't really paying attention to their classmates but Charlie knew that if anyone made a sudden move they would shoot.

The leader was a big tough looking kid. He had beautiful dark skin and extremely short dark hair. The girl he was talking to had a nose ring, light mocha skin and long chocolate colored hair. The boy next to her had the same skin tone but was slightly shorter than the rest with his hair cut short like his leader's. Charlie guessed that the girl was his sister. The last two were apparently identical twins. They seemed to have a hint of a Hispanic background and used common Spanish phrases. They had dark brown hair and each had an earring. All five of them wore identical black bandannas around their heads each in different styles.

He looked at the girl next to him who was shaking slightly. It was the girl who had been in the front row of the class who tried to answer his question. Charlie tried to remember her name.

She said it was Abby.

"Abby," he hissed barely moving. She looked at him and he saw the fear shining through her glassed eyes. "What are their names?"

She looked at them, and directed whom she was talking about with her eyes. Her trembling voice was loud enough for only Charlie to hear. "The leader's name Skull. The girl and the boy are brother and sister and they go by the names Thorn and Shard. The twins are Flame and Frost. I heard that they were part of the Robinson Gang." She turned her head to look at him. "Professor I'm scared."

He looked deep into her olive eyes and saw how much fright was in there. He put his hand on her shoulder gently and whispered into her ear, " It's going to be alright."

The group turned back to their hostages and Skull slowly walked over to the young college professor. Charlie took his hand off Abby's shoulder and looked back at him. Skull crouched down in front of him so they were eye-level. He was still holding his gun but at least it was pointed at the ground.

"Your name really Charles Eppes, Professor?" he asked. His breath smelt of stale tobacco and alcohol.

Charlie nodded slowly. Skull hit him across the face with the muzzle of his gun. His head turned sharply and he heard some of the kids gasped as a gash opened up on his cheek. He slowly turned his head back to the boy trying to hide his fear.

If not for anything else he needed to stay strong for the kids. He had to stay calm for them…

Skull's eyes were a deep brown in color and there was a dark fire behind them that seemed to be set ablaze when he spoke. Charlie kept his gaze as blood ran down his face.

"Is your brother Don Eppes?" he questioned.

Charlie didn't answer.

Why was Skull asking him about Don?

"He asked you a question!" Thorn shouted rushing over to the two and standing Charlie up by his dark curly hair. He winced as she tore at his curls. She let him go once he was on his feet and Skull stood up slowly. He was taller than Charlie by about four inches.

"Is your brother Don Eppes?" he asked again but didn't change his menacing tone.

Charlie nodded again slowly and Skull hit him across the face with the metal weapon for a second time. Charlie felt the gash deepen but he didn't cry out.

"Does he work for the FBI?" he asked quietly.

Charlie lowered his eyes and looked at the ground.

"Does he work for the FBI?" the gang leader demanded louder, smacking Charlie again.

This time it was hard enough to send the mathematician hurtling to the ground. Some of the hostaged teens let out quiet screams as they saw the young man fall, but none of them moved to help him. The guns were still pointed at them after all.

He let out a little whimper as he collided with the floor.

"Does he work for the FBI!" Skull shouted the question this time and, kicked him in the midsection.

He curled up at the impact but Skull kept slamming his foot harder and harder into him and yelling the question over and over, so that it didn't even really sound like a question anymore.

"Does he work for the FBI!" he yelled one last time with a hard kick.

"Yes," Charlie coughed out pain filled in his voice.

Skull seemed to calm himself then and lowered himself to see Charlie better.

"Do you help him with cases?" Skull said crouching in front of the crumpled huddling form in front of him.

"Yes."

He smiled evilly and yanked Charlie into a sitting position in front of him.

"Did you know that you're the reason half my family is in the lock up?" His evil smile faded slightly as if he were remembering something unpleasant. "Did you know that you're the reason I had to watch my father get shot up outside my house because he didn't drop his weapon."

Charlie's face was in shock. He never met any of the criminal's relatives before. He didn't usually think about what happened to them.

"Guess you didn't know that did you," Skull said seeing his face. "Well now you do.

"My older brothers and my uncles are in prison now because of you! And my old man is dead! I was left with nothing!" he paused letting his words sink in.

"But no one fucking cared when I was left alone. The fucking feds thought I was a lost cause and when I said I could take care of myself they believed me! They just thought I was the son of a druggie gang leader. Thought there was no better life for me!

"I've been waiting for this moment where I could finally meet you, Professor Eppes. So I could finally see the man who took apart my life."

He stood up and turned back to his classmates.

"We've been waiting to do this for a long time. You never accepted us! You were always too good for us! You with your rich mommies and daddies, your huge houses and your expensive cars."

He lifted his gun up and pointed it at the center of the faddish group. He kept moving it from person to person.

"Now we are finally ready to take you little shits out!"

He looked at them daring them to challenge him. He smiled.

"But we can wait a little longer. At least until the FBI gets involved and little Donnie finds out what's happening to his brother. Then maybe we can shoot two Eppes with one gun."

His smile widened but his eyes were still just as cold as they had been. His follower's expressions were the same.

This was not good.

* * *

"Another high school shooting? Are you sure this one's for real?" Don Eppes asked into the receiver of his office phone. He was at the FBI headquarters waiting for his new assignment, which recently arrived to him via phone.

There had been more than enough school shootings going around the state and no one could seem to stop them. Too many troubled teens spread over a wide area of land.

Don still wasn't sure why the FBI was getting involved but many of the shootings were gang related and were similar to his last case he solved with Charlie. Figuring out where and when gangs would strike.

Now it was when and where teens would strike…

How can you stop people that you see everywhere yet don't know what they're planning on doing next?

"Alright," Don said into the phone. "I'll be right over. What school is it?"

The person on the other line responded.

"I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and looked up at a woman who was leaning in his doorway.

"Another school shooting?" she asked quietly as he put on his coat. He nodded and walked out the door as she followed. "That's the second this month. Do you think they could be related?"

"I'm not sure, Terry," he said pushing the down button on the elevator wall. "I highly doubt it. There are too many variables, but it is a possibility."

The doors opened and they entered the elevator.

"So you want to come? You are a psychiatrist you'd be a big help out there."

"Sure. Why not?" she said. "Someone has to keep you in line when talking to kids."

"Yea, kids with guns." They smiled as the doors opened and the walked out to the parking lot.

* * *

"So what's the situation?" Don called out to Special Agent David Sinclair, who was standing near half a dozen police cars in the school's parking lot. The lights were flashing and barricades were set up around marking the perimeter and keeping civilians back. He walked up to the man.

All FBI personnel were wearing bulletproof vests with the FBI insignia. A few sharpshooters had on safety goggles and helmets on and were holding large sniper guns.

"There are approximately five shooters in there holding the teacher and around thirty students hostage. They've been in there for almost thirty minutes now.There's been no contact with them but as far as we know they're being held in room number 104. No one is really sure what happened but when the teacher walked out to take a phone call that's when the shooters pulled out their weapons…"

Don interrupted him. "Wait, David. I thought you said they had the teacher hostage as well."

"They do but it's not their normal teacher. He was giving a presentation. The regular teacher went out of the room for not even ten minutes and came back just as the gun went off. She saw all the kids in the center of the room huddled on the floor and ran. No one seemed injured."

"Do we know who is in there with the kids besides the shooters?"

"No, but you can go ask. It's been so hectic here since the police got here. None of the kids would let them do their jobs. Ms. Fault is over there," he said pointing to a blond woman looking tearful near a couple of civilian teens.

"Ok. Thanks David."

Don wandered over to the woman, who was wiping her eyes with an overused tissue.

"Ms. Fault?" he asked as he approached here. She looked up and bit her lip. Her blue eyes were tinted red.

"Can I have a word with you?"

She nodded slightly and he led her away from the group of sobbing teens.

"I'm Special Agent Don Eppes. I was wondering if you could tell me who you put in charge of your class when you left. Do you know if he has a cell phone we could call to get in touch with him or of any way possible we could get communication into that room?"

"Did you say Eppes?" she asked quietly.

He nodded.

She stared in shock at him the suddenly burst into tears and fell to her knees on the pavement. Don apparently wasn't expecting that reaction but squatted down in front of her waiting for her too look into his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she gasped trying to compose herself. "He wasn't even supposed to be there. I'm so sorry Agent Eppes. If I had known what was going to happen I would never had involved him. I swear I didn't know. I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

"Ma'am," Don said confused. "What are you sorry about? If he wasn't in there with them, then you'd be. Can you tell me who is in there please? Time is of the essence."

"Agent Eppes," her voice stopped but she willed herself to speak. "He was my math professor at CalSci five years ago and he agreed to come in today to explain the world of math to my students. I'm sorry…Charlie's in there with them…"

* * *

A/N: WOW! Almost 20 reviews for a prologue? That is so awesome! All the reviews were sweet. Thank you! Ok I doubled up my original first chapter with my second chapter here because you were all so kind to me so I decided to give you more! See what happens when you're nice? ;-D

Ok well more to come just have more editing to do but my term paper is dude tomorrow so I no longer have to work on that so updates should be faster and longer!

Ok tell me what you think of this chapter and what you would like me to do in the future of this story. 'kay?

Thankies!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	3. Give Me a Sign, Say Anything

Disclaimer: I only enjoy tormenting the characters. How could I own them? I don't own enough food to feed any of them…

* * *

Don felt numb inside. He couldn't move from his position behind the barricade. He faintly heard Terry talking to him but he wasn't paying attention.

Charlie was inside with the gunmen.

His baby brother was inside with a few maniac teenagers.

His little brother could be dead.

Suddenly Don was hearing Terry's words.

"It's going to be alright, Don."

"How do you know that?" he exploded at her. "How do you know that he's not going to die? How do you know that everyone will come out fine? How do you know that he isn't dead already?"

She stared at him for a moment.

"I just have a feeling, Don, that Charlie is all right," she said looking up into his rage filled eyes, which slowly softened as he realized what he had done.

"Oh…Terry I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" he was cut off in mid-sentence.

"It's ok Don, I know you didn't mean it. You're just under a lot of stress at the moment. I'd be the same way. So what's the plan?"

"I'm going to call Charlie on his cell phone and see if we can negotiate something with the people holding them."

"Ok, Don so why don't we try that," Terry said trying to keep him calm. "They're probably waiting for the call since they haven't tried to reach us yet."

Don sighed and pulled out his phone. He started to dial the digits.

* * *

A phone rang in the silence.

It was a simple ring because Charlie never really felt the need to change the one that was originally on it.

It was loud and clear in the dark quiet classroom. Some of the kids jumped at the noise but the gunmen held their ground.

Skull smiled slightly and pointed his gun as Charlie then to his bag, which contained his phone.

"Go get it," he said quietly.

Charlie slowly stumbled to his feet and walked slowly over to his bag that he left on the desk. The girl, Thorn, followed him with her gun trained on his head. He fumbled with the zipper on the outside pocket of his backpack but eventually got it open. He pulled out the device and looked over at Skull wondering if he wanted him to answer it.

Skull gave him a slow nod and Charlie answered the phone.

"Hello," he said into the receiver. His voice was quiet and shaky but he didn't care this could be his chance for help. They needed help.

The voice that responded on the other line surprised the young Eppes brother.

"Charlie?" it was Don. His voice was full of fear as well.

"Don?"

"Charlie are you alright? They didn't hurt you did they?" Don was babbling happy to hear his brother's voice.

"I'm fine, but you need to get us out of here," Charlie pleaded to his brother.

"I know buddy, I know. We're working on it."

Skull wandered over to Charlie and took the phone from him and smiled slightly.

He was caught off guard as the next thing happened. He felt a hard object strike the back of his head. He fell to the ground as his thoughts left him.

* * *

"Charlie?" Don said loudly into the phone. He heard his brother yell softly and a loud resounding thump in the background. "Charlie?"

"I'm afraid the professor is unable to finish your call at the moment but I would be delighted to," a cold voice said cheerfully on the other line. "Agent Eppes."

"What did you do?" Don practically screamed into the phone. So many visions were streaming through the FBI agent's mind at that moment and he wanted answers.

"Nothing he won't recover from," the sly voice replied.

Don sighed softly.

He had to remain calm to help Charlie.

He had to keep his cool.

He couldn't risk losing his brother to a lunatic.

"What are your demands?" he asked softly.

"I knew you were going to ask that," he heard the teen sigh. "What makes you people always think we have demands? Why don't you think we might wanna keep this simple?"

"What do you mean?" Don asked.

"Why don't you ever just think we might wanna kill some people?"

Don couldn't answer that, but he couldn't stop talking. "So you don't have any demands?"

"Now I never said that," the voice said amusingly. "We want the usual stuff. A large sum of cash, a car, no jail time and," he paused for a moment. "an apology written to me from you and your brother."

"Why do you want an apology?" Don asked. Now he was really confused.

"Why don't you ask my father?" The boy's words were chilling. He paused. "Call me back with your response."

The line went dead. Don stared at the phone for a moment before shoving it back into his pocket.

"Don!" he heard Terry call from behind him. "We know who the shooters are."

Don turned around to see Terry rushing to him with a few files in her arms. She opened one on the closest police car's hood.

"The leader is Jared Samson. Has a criminal record of small drugstore robberies and drug smuggling. His father was the replacement leader of the Robinson Gang."

"Didn't we stop those guys two months ago?" Don asked reading the file.

"Yea, but apparently Jared started his own little gang. His accomplices are siblings Cassidy and Kevin Carlson and twin brothers Miguel and Jose Rodriguez. They don't have much of a police record besides being caught selling marijuana on school property."

"We have to get a hold of Jared's father," Don said remembering his phone conversation.

"Don," Terry said with a strange look in her eyes. "We can't."

"Why not?" he spat back angrily.

"Because he's dead…you shot him two months ago…"

Don's eyes went wide.

"Oh my god…"

* * *

Charlie's head hurt.

Why did his head hurt?

Why was he on the floor?

He sat up slowly and felt the back of his head gently. A large bump resided there. Then he remembered what happened.

The guns…

The students…

His phone…

"Sleeping Beauty's up!" Someone above him yelled.

He looked up to see the boy, who called himself Shard, standing above him. He kicked him in the side. Charliegroaned at the impact.

"On your feet," he grunted at the mathematician. When he noticed that Charlie made no effort to move he kicked him again. "Get up you lazy bastard!"

Charlie made it to his knees when a wave of dizziness washed over him. He teetered from side to side but made it to his feet with the use of the desk he was lying near. The room wouldn't stop spinning.

"Get over there," Shard spat at him as he pointed his gun toward the group of kids.

Charlie dizzily wandered to the center of the room and sat down on the outskirts of the circle.

Once there he glanced at his watch. He hadn't been out long; only around fifteen minutes. He looked around and saw Skull standing on the other side of the room talking on his cell phone.

"I told you what we wanted," Charlie heard him say loudly. "No negotiations. I told you what we wanted and that's all you need to know. "

He paused listening to the person on the other line.

"Listen! I am in charge now not you! You do what I say or I'll kill these little shits! Got it!"

He pointed his gun at the ceiling and fired. Plaster fell on some of the teen's heads as some of the girls screamed.

"You better understand," he said as he hung up the phone.

"What's up Skull?" Thorn asked walking towards him.

"Those fucking feds want us to let some of them out," he waved his gun towards the huddled group in the middle of the room.

"Well why don't we?" she asked.

"Why should we?"

"We have a lot to look after. Maybe we should let a few out."

"The more we have the more power we hold over those sons of bitches!"

"Calm down baby it was just a suggestion," she said gently kissing him lightly. "We'll keep going your way. You are so smart baby." She kissed him again, but this time it was a little harder and longer. He wrapped his arms around her slightly as she put her hand behind his head.

Most of the group looked away as if they knew there would be consequences by watching the display of affection, but some weren't that smart.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" the girl screamed noticing some of the kid's reactions.

She directed her words at the boy who made the wisecrack during class…

Pete Haddix…

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

"N-nothing," Pete stuttered as the gun pointed at him.

"Looked like you were staring at something that was none of your business. Ever hear of privacy rich boy?"

He didn't move.

"I hate people like you," she said quietly releasing the safety. "You have no manners and spend your life tormenting those that do."

No one moved to stop her as she slowly pulled the trigger.

No one moved…

There was a crack and a few screams of fright.

Charlie closed his eyes not wanting to watch the boy die but when he opened them he found that the boy was still alive. Blood was pouring from a bullet wound in his right shoulder. His face was in shear pain as he lay on his side holding his injury.

"Let that teach you to stare…" the girl mumbled turning her back to them.

When his friends realized that she was no longer watching the moved closer to him, muttering to themselves.

"What are we going to do..."

"Hold still…"

"Oh my god…"

"Holy shit…"

"I hate blood…"

Charlie knew that he didn't know what any of them were doing, so he crawled forward ignoring his dizzy pounding head.

"Don't move," he muttered approaching. "Everyone back up."

The circle still stayed close but they gave the professor more room. Pete was clenching his teeth so tight it looked like they might crack. His eyes were shut tightly in pain.

"You," he said pointing to the closest of the huddling figures. "What's your name?"

"Matt," the boy said brushing his shaggy brown hair out of his blue eyes.

"Ok, Matt, I'm going to need your help with him. Alright?"

He nodded.

"Help me take off his shirt." They did so but with difficulty as they tried not to hurt him.

Blood was everywhere…

"When I count to three I'm going to need your help rolling him on his left side. I need to see if the bullet is still in there."

Charlie learned first-aid after one of his more dangerousconsulting jobs for theNSA. They thoughtthat if he was ever in a bad situatin he should at least know the basics or survival.

He positionedhimself near the boys upper right side, while Matt reached over and prepared to pull his lower body over.

"One…two…three…" Pete let out a cry of pain at being moved but Charlie held him in that position.

The wound came outthrough the other side

"The bullet pierced straight through," he said quietly lowering him back down.

He took Pete's shirt and placed it under his shoulder and then he removed his black dress shirt and pressed down firmly on the top of the wound.

"Hold this down tightly," he said to Matt. "Keep pressure on it. It doesn't look like it hit any muscle or bone. And it isn't close to his major arteries, but he needs a doctor. Hold it down and don't let him move. I'm going to see if we can get him to a hospital."

Charlie made a brave move closer to the bandana-clad teens, who were once again huddled around the cell phone.

He never thought that he would be risking his life for the type of person he used to hate in high school…

The type of person who would torment him in high school…

He clenched his eyes and almost suceeded in ignoring his pounding head...

He knew he was going to die…along with everyone else in the room…

Why not die trying to help someone?

That was a sure ticket to heaven wasn't it?

He shut his eyes momentarily and saw the face of his mother and father. It was Thanksgiving. Don and he had just started high school and they were sitting at the large dinning room table passing around potatoes and gravy. His brother said something to make him snort in his milk. His mother was smiling proudly at her sons as Alan carved the turkey.

That was one of Charlie's favorite scenes in the Eppes house. That was one of the memories that helped him decide to buy his family home.

His mother was so beautiful...

His mother would watch over him and if he did die she'd be waiting for him at heavens gate.

She'd be there…

With renewed strength Charlie strode over to the group who turned their guns on him…

* * *

Don was panicking.

He hadn't heard from Charlie the last time he talked to Jared and he had heard a gunfire while Terry tried to negotiate something with him. As more time had passed and the largecrowd outside started to settle another shot was fired.

He couldn't stop thinking about those gunshots. Images of Charlie lying on the floor bleeding were filling his mind. Scenes of Charlie dead in a pool of blood were going to haunt him unless he found out what had just gone on in that room…

"We need to call again…" he stuttered to Terry starting to lose his cool. "We need to know what the hell just happened!"

"Don, calm down" she said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We're trying not to press our luck. I'm amazed that we haven't heard anymore shots."

"But…" Just then his phone rang. He answered it.

"Eppes."

"We'll let five out for you to come in," Skull said being short and to the point.

"How do I know you'll hold up your end of the deal?"

"How do I know you'll actually risk your life?"

There was a silence.

"Fine," Don said quietly. "Is anyone in there hurt?"

"Only that little pussy," he spat. "We're sending five out and if you don't come in after they're safely outta the school I'll shoot your precious brother."

Don was about to send a comeback his way but knew not to test him. He was still a child and everyone knows how reckless and rash children can be at times.

"Don't test me."

The line was cut and Terry looked at him quizzically.

The doors to the school opened.Three girls and two boys were walking very quickly towards the police cars. Their hands were in the air and many had tears on their faces. They looked like they wanted to sprint towards safety but were afraid that they might shoot them. Once they reached the barricade most fell to the ground in tears, the fear and nervousness they had felt for the last hour finally taking over, but one girl with pigtails and glasses started asking for Don.

A police officer pointed towards him and she rushed to him.

"Agent Eppes?" she asked quietly tears silently running down her face.

He gave a curt nod.

"Your brother wanted me to tell you not to worry about him," she said looking up at him. "He said he doesn't want you to get hurt. He wants you to be safe."

"Well unfortunately I can't do that," Do said loudly. "He's my baby brother and I have to look out for him. I always have to be in charge."

She looked taken aback.

"Thank you," he said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for giving me his message but now I have to go."

He turned to face the school entrance. Hopped over the barricade and started walking to the glass doors.

Terry started calling for him but he didn't turn. He kept walking calmly towards the entrance but he lost his cool when he heard the next sound.

_BANG_

He knew that shot had hit its mark and he knew what...who the mark was...

"Shit!" he muttered quietly to himself. Then took off running through the doors.

"Charlie..."

* * *

A/N: That was another two chapters put together. Unfortunately I won't be able to write anymore for awhile. Finals are up this Friday and must study study. And then I'm off to Chicago for a mission trip with my church. Gotta help a homeless shelter over there or something. And I've posted all I've written so far. So sad…

I'm sorry about leaving you with a cliffie but thats all i have so far. I might post one more time before my trip but only if i am able to get more onto the screen. Ideas are always nice...I am putting names for the chapters up but was wondering if you think i should do that for all my fics or just for this one?

Over 50 reviews! Over thirty for chapter two! Dudes...you are the utmost greatest! Mwah!

So please give feedback to the desperate Numb3rs fanatic. I enjoy it! (maybe we'll get up to 100 big ones for this fic too! ;-D)

Thankies so very muchly!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	4. I So Hate Consequences

Disclaimer: Nothing in here but the plot and original characters and settings do I own.

* * *

BANGBANG 

BANG

Three more shots ran out as Don ran into to building. He didn't heed Terry's calls for him to stop and come back. If anything he ran faster. He had to get to his brother.

He had to…

Once through the glass doors he sprinted down the hallway following the echoing gunshots. Glancing quickly at the numbers on each of the doors Don almost missed room 104. He slid to a stop and peered through the glass window in the door…

He almost passed out at what he saw.

Charlie was lying on the floor in front of him…blood had started pooling around him…

And it was all Don's fault…

He killed his brother…

* * *

Charlie had no idea why he had done that.

He didn't even remember what had happened really.

He was trying to piece together all of what had gone on since he tried to get help for Pete.

He stood up and muttered a message to Abby to deliver to Don. Something about not wanting him hurt… too late for Charlie anyway…

Then Skull picked out five kids from the group and stated that they would be leaving. He talked through his phone for a few more minutes and then sent them out… Abby was with them…at least she's safe…for some reason he felt a connection with that child.

He heard Skull say something to the phone…no one had realized that he was standing away from the group yet.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

He whirled around to face both Flame and Frost pointing their guns at him.

He really couldn't tell them apart…

He held up his hands and started to back up slowly…he backed into Skull.

"Trying to be a hero?" he asked vehemently as he watched the young Eppes jump.

He didn't respond.

"I hate heroes."

"He…he needs a d-doctor…he needs m-medical assistance," he stuttered pointing over the gunman's shoulder at Pete. "You d-don't want him to d-die do you?"

He pointed the gun at the professor's forehead.

"To tell you the truth I don't care…"

He spun around as Charlie dropped to the floor in a panic.

"Skull!" Shard called out from the window. He was peering through the blinds and motioned for him to come over. "The Agent stopped to talk to one of the ones we let go."

"That was his mistake…"

Skull walked over to Pete who was still lying on the floor bleeding.

"Pity really…he was going to graduate this year…" Matt jumped back from his friend's side as Skull's gun went off. He shot the boy straight through the eyes.

Many of the girls screamed and the boys yelped in surprise. Their eyes were still on the dead boy in front of them. Many of them started crying. The girls let go and were in hysterics while the boys seemed more reserved.

Matt looked at Charlie and his eyes were something the mathematician would never in his life forget.

His eyes contained grief, pain, and anger. One of his best friends had been killed right in front of him and he couldn't do anything but jump back and watch. A lonely tear slid down his hard face leaving its tracks through his pale skin. Like a hunter leaves tracks in the fresh winter snow…

He looked down once more and closed his friend's wide empty eyes.

He didn't look at Charlie again.

Skull turned back to Charlie who was on the floor by the teacher's desk.

"You know I was going to let you live. At least until you and you're brother signed an apology but now it seems like I can't do that…"

He lifted the gun and pointed it back at the professor.

Charlie just stared him down. He was going to die. He could at least go with dignity…there was no use begging or pleading for mercy. He was going to die and no one was going to save him.

"This was your fault you know…"

The image of his family at Thanksgiving flashed into his mind making him smile.

The trigger was pulled…

Once…

Twice…

Three times…

And all the shots hit their mark. Charlie was hit in the shoulder, the abdomen, and in the chest. He was flung into to the desk by the force of the impact and then fell limp on the floor.

He heard Shard and Skull muttering.

"He's still alive…"

"Oh well…that's his problem then. I'm not wasting another bullet on him…"

Then they walked away.

Leaving him to die alone on a stone cold floor…

Leaving him filled agony in his pooling blood…

Leaving him to die alone…

Maybe he deserved it.

He let that boy die in front of him. He let that boy die in front of all his classmates…in front of all his admirers and friends…

He let him die…

Now it was his turn to go cold.

Closing his eyes he fell away from the world that he knew…

Drifting away he heard a phone ringing…

* * *

Terry immediately got on the phone trying to contact the shooters but they wouldn't pick up. They were ignoring their calls now. She tried three times before giving up.

What was going on in there?

What happened to Don?

What happened?

She almost threw her phone on the ground in frustration but managed to control herself.

She was standing behind the police barricade in front of a police car with flashing lights. She sank to the ground in silence. Her knees were drawn up and she wrapped her arms around them. Her face was hidden as she dropped her cell phone beside her on the pavement.

She wasn't going to cry…

She couldn't cry…

She wanted to cry but she couldn't…she just couldn't!

She felt a gentle hand on her head and looked up sharply.

David crouched in front of her by the tire of the police car. His hand was rested on her strawberry-blond hair but he removed it when she looked at him. His chocolate brown eyes were caring and seemed to melt as she looked at them.

"You okay?" he asked gently leaning back on his heals.

"I'm fine," she said gruffly not wanting him to see her weakness.

"Sure you are," he said hoping to engage her in a true conversation.

"I'm fine, Sinclair. Drop it." She grabbed her cell phone and stood up quickly. She turned away from him even though she heard him stand up a few moments after.

Walking away from him should've given him the hint she didn't like to talk. He apparently took the hint but threw it away.

"I see how you look at him, Terry." His voice was quiet but he knew she'd be listening and she was. She whipped around her hair in a tizzy…her mouth agape. "Don't lie to me. You're worried for him. I can see that and you hate how helpless it feels to be out here while he's not. To not be able to do anything for the one you love…"

Her eyes seemed hurt but his seemed to comfort them. She turned back around and rushed away.

David could only stare after her and feel pity for her and Don.

He shook his head and went back to look over the case files of the teens.

* * *

A/N: School is over and I am officially a sophomore now! YAY! I know this is kinda short compared to my other chapter and I left it off again but I am leaving the 24th and will be back the 1st. I may have more by then!

No I am not doing David/Terry. I just had to clear that up. And I didn't want to kill Pete but that's how it turned out when I started writing. It does have a purpose…I'm not just an original character killer. All deaths have a purpose or a point to show in my fics. That I swear to you!

The chapter titles are actually song titles or parts of lyrics from random bands that I choose. I thought some of them fit. So I'm gonna keep going like that. 'Kay!

So may reviews and so little time to fulfill this writing. I do promise it will get done though!

Thankies and please review!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	5. The Guts To Put This to Your Head

Disclaimer: Numb3rs is owned by someone with way more authority and money than I have. I have the authority over anyone younger than eight years old and I have a grand total of two dollars a nickel and three pennies. (not including all the movie theater gift cards I've collected over time) Go me!

(A/N: Sorry this took so long. Brain stopped since I returned from Chicago, then Harry Potter came out and I had to watch a bunch of seven-year-olds at Bible camp. Been busy and a little out of it for awhile. Hope you like this…)

* * *

Classroom 104 held thirty-five students when it was full. So there thirty-six people in the room to begin with, including the teacher. Five of those students were the shooters, five had been released, and one student had been killed. That left twenty-four hostages left in the room.

Twenty-four reasons not to just run into the room and apprehend the shooters…

Twenty-four reasons not to do anything rash…

Twenty-four reasons to think things through many times before actually acting…

Twenty-four reasons to figure out a plan…

Soon the twenty-four hostages would be twenty-three as the only adult in the room lay bleeding heavily on the floor…

One reason to hurry…

Only one reason…

What did the FBI have hopes of doing? What did the FBI plan on doing to save those kids?

What did Don plan on doing to save his brother?

Too much time taken to plan…

Wasted time…

Wasted blood…

* * *

The hallway outside room 104 was lined with lockers. The power throughout the entire building was off. The LAPD got a hold of the situation way before the FBI got to the scene and that was their first course of action.

Don could barely see through the darkness and his bleary tears. He was sitting with his back pressed against a navy blue locker. He was breathing hard trying to get the image he just saw out of his head. But the nagging voice in his mind kept repeating the same words over and over.

I killed my little brother…

He took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down. He didn't even know if he was dead yet. He just might be jumping to conclusions.

He had to get in there…

How was he going to get in to help Charlie?

How was he going to get in to find out if he was alive?

He could always just knock on the door and risk being taken hostage or he could wait and think of a new plan.

If he was taken hostage he could look after Charlie better and maybe help stop his bleeding, but the gunmen probably wouldn't let him anywhere near his brother or would just shoot him on sight.

If he waited Charlie could be dead before this was over.

Well he couldn't just barge in there and he couldn't wait. He had to do something now to get his brother and those kids out of there. But what could he do?

He had to think… but not for too long.

* * *

Inside the room Charlie was bordering on consciousness and unconsciousness. He still felt responsible for all that was happening. He was the adult in the room. He was responsible for those kids…

He let one die…

He was in such pain.

How could he protect these kids now?

How could he try and keep them calm in this state?

Where was Don?

Why was it so dark?

Was Don coming?

Of course Don was coming…

He knew his big brother wouldn't let him die.

Just thinking about Don made him feel safer… he relaxed slightly as he felt the pain dulling. His barely open eyes started to slide the rest of the way shut and he didn't bother to do anything about it.

He was so tired…

He'd wake up by the time Don came to get him out of there…

Don would be there soon…

His breathing became shallower and shallower as he fell the rest of the way into darkness…

No one noticed…

Not even himself… he was far too gone…

* * *

Out of the twenty-three students that sat in the center of the room not even ten of them intentionally taunted the shooters. But almost all of them were friends with the people that did and many of them stood by and watched as they fought in the hallways. Barely five of the kids still in the room had nothing to do with arguments.

The recently deceased Pete Haddix was one of the few that actually started the feuds. He made jokes but he, like many others, thought they knew that he never meant what he said. Apparently he was wrong…

The children in the room had almost given up on the police and FBI involvement. They had been in that room for more than a few hours before Pete had been killed and Charlie had been shot. They hadn't heard any good news coming from the other end of the phone. All of them knew that they could be next on the list to die, but some of them knew that they also had to try and plan an escape or at least get the guns out of their hands.

Pete's best friend Matt, the one who held him in his arms while he died, was one of the few that realized that the FBI might not be able to get them out before another death. He slowly looked around the group and caught the eyes of almost five people. Everyone else quickly looked away fearing that they may get shot just for looking at each other.

He tried to communicate using small nods and glances. Only three of them kept eye contact long enough to understand what Matt was explaining. One was Pete's girlfriend Ashley Rogers, the one who was popping her gum loudly during the professor's talk, and another was a quiet kid that Matt didn't know very well.

His name was Scott Curtis and was big for his age. Matt remembered when the football coach tried to beg him to join their team last year, but he declined saying he didn't believe that there was such a thing as sportsmanship anymore.

The last person that made eye contact with him and held it long enough to practically say "I'm in" was Eve Wright. He didn't know much about her either but he wasn't too picky at the moment and would need all the help he could get from anyone. The only thing he knew about Eve was that her parents recently got a divorce and rumors were that she was going to turn to the "dark side" and do something rather rash before she graduated. Matt also believed that she was once a neighbor to Thorn and Shard, which would either be a good or bad thing considering the situation.

He told them all he could using his eyes and received slight nods of agreement and understanding. None of them were backing down and the fear that they held in their eyes moments ago turned into pure concentration for the task that would soon be at hand.

They each positioned themselves at different edges of the cluster without being too obvious of what they were doing. The shooters weren't even looking at them when they moved. They were trying to figure out how they were going to get out of there after killing a kid and probably fatally wounding a FBI agent's brother.

The three who were silently recruited by Matt all watched his hand slowly ticking down all five fingers. Not one of them hesitated when he put his last finger down.

Eve, Scott, Ashley and Matt reacted as one…

Someone had to do something right?

They were the ones that did…

They reacted…

* * *

A/N: I know sorry about that guys! I hate cliffies too but I couldn't add more until next chapter. I hope you understand and forgive me for my extremely looooong hiatus where I made no progress. You must thank my best friend Mallory for getting me back on track with writing. I am co-authoring a MCR fic with her on another site called or something like that. My Chemical Romance is also another thing that got me out of my slump. Their music is awesome and I write to it constantly! I've loved them since they appeared and I have been blaring it nonstop!

Ok next chapter will hopefully be up sooner than this one and I have another serial I am starting but probably wont post until at least "Hit and Run" is over and done with.

So please review for the desperate fic writer who has just recovered from a serious case of writer's block!

Thankies!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	6. Demolition Lovers

Disclaimer: I only want to own Numb3rs but that's it. I own nothing and need to find a place that will hire me. I need money….

* * *

Charlie had just returned to a pain free ecstasy when he felt himself begin ripped back into the world of agony.

He wished he knew where Don was….

He wished he knew where his father was…

It would be so nice to see a familiar face now…

He wished he could see his mother…

She could always calm him down.

He couldn't breathe as well anymore so it was coming out in short gasps. His skin seemed to be on fire near his wounds but the rest of him was so cold.

So cold…

When was Don coming?

He knew that Don would help him and save the kids…

Don could do anything.

Charlie struggled to take his next breath.

Why was it getting harder to breathe?

He coughed slightly and something came up into his mouth. He had no choice but to tilt his head to the side and let to trickle out. He coughed again trying to clear his lungs.

No one was paying much attention to him anymore.

He knew that he should probably evaluate the situation. So he tried to even his unsteady breaths and shake the fog out of his muggy mind.

Where had he been shot?

Chest…

Stomach…

Left shoulder…

And he still had the wounds from the beating he took before.

He was a mess…

How would he impress Amita now?

What was he thinking about? Amita was no where near this school. He had to stay focused.

Stay focused…

He opened his closed eyes slightly to make sure the kids were still all right. It took him a moment for him to comprehend what he was seeing.

Then the guns started sounding once more…

Charlie couldn't help them…

His eyes started to close…

He was lost again falling into oblivion and away from the noise…

BANG

BANG

BANG

* * *

Even though the plot wasn't fully understood by the four students they were determined to make it work.

It had to work, because if it didn't they would all end up dead.

They slowly made their way to separate edges of the circle each near a different shooter, except for Scott who was near the twins. Since he was the strongest of the bunch he decided he might be able to take down two. He hoped he could…

Matt's job was to take down Shard, while Eve was in charge of Thorn and it seemed that she had a good chance of succeeding. He knew Scott could hold his own; he was, after all, the anti-bully of the school. He was the one who went around breaking up fights that occurred to the 'lower class' students, but even though he was 'the protector' he didn't seem to have any friends, except for Eve.

Eve was different though. A couple months ago, after he parents split up, she dyed her hair purple and wore black constantly. No one knew why, but rumors flew that she'd gotten raped. Even though she dismissed them, not everyone believed her. She also went mute for some time, only speaking to Scott, not caring what anyone said. Her mom got most of the money from the divorce so they bought a new house in a safer part of town away from where Thorn and Shard lived. People said that they used to be the best of friends, as well… no one ever knew what to think anymore with Eve. The only person who really knew what was going on was Scott, who was petty quiet most of the time.

The only person he was worried about was Ashley. She was extremely upset about Pete's death; Matt could tell. She didn't cry like most of the other girls but just looking into her eyes you could tell that she would do anything to get revenge. She was the closest to Skull so it was her job to get the gun away from him.

To get the gun away from her lovers killer…

He was almost twice her size and much smarter than she, but they didn't have a choice. They had to be subtle and this was the only way.

With that simple nod of Matt's head they started their jobs…

And all hell broke loose…

BANG

BANG

BANG

Guns went off and cries of pain had sounded. Too may shots to count but enough to illuminate the dark room. More than one gun was going off. People threw themselves on the ground trying not to get hit. The sound of shattering glass had occurred also.

Swears were being shouted.

Screams were being vocalized.

Prayers were being uttered.

They all wished for the silence to come only to be denied their wish.

BANG

BANG

BANG

* * *

All four of them acted at once.

Scott slowly stood behind the twins and quickly swiped their legs out from under them. The first one who fell, Flame, hit his head forcefully on the floor and his gun skidded away hitting the wall. The second, Frost, fell atop his motionless brother dropping his gun.

Scott had rushed to gather the dropped firearms and barely heard what the active twin yelled before being barreled into.

It took Frost mere moments to realize that his brother was not getting up. He spotted his attacker a few feet away and charged, forgetting his fallen gun.

"Cabron…" he growled coldly.

Scott stumbled but managed to stay on his feet. He threw his head back knocking the boy off him. Frost fell to the ground and spit out a mouthful of blood.His eyes were full of rage and as he peered around he spotted something...the gun was barely a yard away from him. Scott noticed his eyes light up and turned to see what he had. When he turned back to face Frost he felt a kick hit him in the stomach.

Frost took off for the weapon and Scott knew he couldn't let the boy reach it.

Scott never believed in guns, after all his sister was killed in a bank heist by a stray bullet.He promised himself that he wouldn't become one of those people who bullied others to get what they wanted or needed. He promised that to himself and to his sister...

He had to get it away from his opponent.

He scrambled to his feet and jumped onto his target's back and knocked him to the ground. A crack was heard and it seemed that Frost had some broken ribs caused by the force in which they landed. Still sitting on the boy, Scott quickly untied his shoes and removed the laces. He used one to tie Frost's hands behind his back. He lay their moaning as Scott went to his brother and did the same just in case.

His job was done but he knew that he'd need to help the others. He peered around to realize how right he was.

Behind him Matt grabbed Shard's gun arm and held it tightly and painfully behind his back. Shard let go of the gun but screamed out in pain and surprise. Matt let go and grabbed at the dropped firearm but didn't manage to reach it, because at that exact moment a kick hit him squarely in the face. He flew up and landed on his back.

"You didn't think that because I'm the smallest I'd be the easiest to take down, did ya?" Shard said with a smirk.

Matt only growled standing and ramming into him.

* * *

On the other side of the room Ashley had tackled Skull from behind and was holding on tightly to his back.

"Get the fuck off me bitch!"

He swung around in circles trying to rid himself of the blond but was unable to get her to loosen her grip. He couldn't get a good aim either but decided to try anyway.

His gun went off shooting everything but Ashley. He hit the students huddling on the floor, the ceiling, even shot through a couple windows.

"Get off me!" he yelled slamming her against the wall, which caused her to let go of him and slid down slowly.

Her head cracked loudly on the impact. He turned around with a sick smile as he felt her slide off him.

"You killed him," she said weakly her head swimming.

"Yes, I did," he said proudly smiling. "And now I'll kill you."

He cocked the gun and aimed…

CLICK

CLICK

CLICK

"Fuck!" he screamed.

He had used up all his bullets. Ashley's eyes lit up at the realization that she wasn't going to die.

"You think it's funny you little slut?" he screamed seeing a change in her behavior. He threw the gun at her and it hit her hard on the side of the head. "Is it funny now?"

A gash appeared at her temple and she slowly slid the rest of the way to the floor lying on his side.

* * *

Scott watched Matt and Shard wrestle for a moment before taking action. He muscled his way over there and grabbed Shard off Matt who was lying on his back being pounded repeatedly in the face.

"Get offa' him!"

Scott threw the boy into the stone wall and aimed his fist at his face but Shard was quick and dodged it. Scott felt a few bones pop in his hand and took a sharp gasp of pain.

Matt was on his knees reaching for the gun that had been kicked away from him before. He grabbed it and cocked it back, taking aim at the boy.

"No guns, Matt!" Scott yelled wrapping his good arm around Shard's neck. "Don't become one of them!" He squeezed his neck, not hard enough to break it but enough to slow his flow of oxygen.

Matt looked down at the weapon and lost the focus on the room. He didn't want to become like them did he? No he didn't but before he could think of what he should do something stole his concentration from him.

"Bastards!" he heard someone scream and a few more shots had sounded. He threw himself down on the ground on instinct but Scott wasn't so lucky.

Thorn had apparently watched as her brother had been beaten by the two of them and had taken aim and fired. It was a good thing she was a bad shot because Scott was only hit in one of his muscled arms, causing him to loosen his grip on her brother, but he didn't let go. It hurt a great deal but at the moment it wasn't life threatening and the little brat in his grasp was.

* * *

Skull had finally noticed that two members of his group were down and none of the students fighting for freedom were holding their weapons. He searched the floor wildly and found one a yard away. He ran to it and picked it up. He aimed at the muscled bleeding form in front of him.

"Bye-bye…" he whispered to himself.

BANG

BANG

He had a great shot when he wasn't distracted, and Scott would've been killed on the spot if at that moment a great shattering of glass hadn't torn Skull's attention away from his target.

The two shots that were meant for the boy who hated guns missed…

He had shot and killed the boy he was holding…

He had killed his girlfriend's brother…

And he felt no guilt…

Thorn didn't see it though. She was too busy with Eve.

She didn't know her brother was dead and was killed by the one she loved, who didn't care...

* * *

After watching Thorn shoot Scott in the arm, Eve had grabbed something out of her pocket, a small heavy rock, and slammed it at the back of Thorn's head hoping to knock her out. She didn't fall though. She grabbed at her head and spun punching Eve in the face looking shocked as she did so.

"You?"

"Me?" Eve said clutching at her bleeding nose. "What about me, Cassidy?"

Thorn only stared at her.

"You didn't think I'd stand by and watch you do this to them, did you? Because if you did then you are pretty stupid," Eve said with a smirk. "I thought you knew me better."

Thorn raised her gun at her.

"What are you gonna' do shoot me?" the purpled headed girl said not at all concerned that a gun was pointed at her head. "Go ahead. You know that I've wanted someone to do that for some time now."

"Eve…" Thorn said looking into her clear green eyes. "Don't make me shoot you."

"I know you wouldn't, Cass. I was the only one who understood you remember that? Do you remember back when we only had each other to talk to? When did we fall apart, Cass?"

Eve's smirk faded, and tears welled in both girls' eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Eve asked quietly. "Is it because you want to die and take as many of these kids with you?"

"No…" Thorn said shocked.

"Then it's because of him!" the pale girl spat angrily, jerking her thumb somewhere behind her aiming for Skull. "This is because of your precious boyfriend!"

"It's not like that," she said, as her eyes narrowed. "You don't know what you're talking about…"

"No!" shouted Eve. "You're the one who doesn't know what you're talking about! You shot a classmate just for looking at you! You don't even know who the hell your boyfriend is!"

"Oh yeah!" Thorn shouted back. "Then why don't you tell me then, since you seem to know him so well."

"He's the one who raped me!"

Time seemed to slow between them, as Thorn stood stock-still. Her arm holding the gun dropped to her side. Eve let a tear fall.

"But you wouldn't have known about all that would you? Ever since I moved and got a big ass house you thought I'd changed… like everyone else…"

"That was true?" Thorn said finally able to move her dropped jaw.

"Yea it was. So are you going to shoot me or what?" she demanded angrily.

"You know I can't…"

"Sure you can. You shot Pete didn't you?"

"Eve…" the girl said warningly.

"Will you look at what you've done. Do you know what's going to happen to you?" Thorn didn't move. "You're going to goto jail. You've shot a student and helped with his murder. If you don't give up now you are going to go to jail and might even end up dead! Do you want that for yourself? Do you want that for Kevin?It would kill your mother, Cass and you know that!"

Torn just lifted her gun arm again. "I'm so sorry…"

"No you're not, Cass…" Eve said as another tear coursed down her cheek. "You've never felt guilt or remorse... I'm the one that's sorry… I let you fall in love with a monster…"

She closed her eyes…

* * *

Don flew to his feet at the first sound of noise. He flew to the window in the door and watched as some of the shooters fired their weapons. He watched them shooting wildly missing their targets as if they were no longer aiming. Some of the bullets hit unintentional students. Don knew that it didn't matter if he jumped in now or not, the classroom was in total chaos.

And he needed to get Charlie out of there...

He broke the window in the door and jumped through landing on the desks that had barricaded it with his gun drawn. He had to save the others and stop this once and for all.

Don did the hardest thing he ever had to do right then and walked past Charlie preparing to take down the gunmen. He had to keep his brother waiting like he did all those years ago.

BANG

BANG

BANG

Blood was everywhere.

He watched as that all happened in a few moments of his arrival.

He watched as his brother's lifeless body lay in a pool of blood…

No more watching… it was time for action.

* * *

A/N: I know not much Don or Charlie in this chapter (I started it and ended it with them though). I'm sorry. Next chapter will have mucho mucho Eppes brothers! I promise! This took forever to get out. I am so sorry!

I was trying but school is coming up in two days my friends! Ahhhh! I am trying to get many more fics typed out before I have to actually work on stuff! I have started around three more Numb3rs fics (and they are not one-shots)! YAY (I will be busy for forever)!

Well I'll leave you now. I might not have part 7 up so soon because of school and mom will kill me if I screw up my second year of high school! Please leave reviews! They get me fueled!

Thankies!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	7. Two Shots To The Back Of The Head

Disclaimer: I'd love to meet the people who own this television show because I don't and am in no way claiming any ownership of Numb3rs.

A/N: I have a ton of homework to do but why waste all that caffeine in this really good cappuccino on that? It's been awhile so hang on tight everybody….here we go!

* * *

If anyone had asked Don if he'd do anything that reckless he would've probably said a definite no.

Not in a thousand years would he have dreamed of diving into the mist of heavy gunfire. But these were different circumstances.

He had never imagined that Charlie would get so involved with his work. He had never imagined that his brother would become a hostage. He had never imagined that his brother would be shot.

He never imagined that his brother might die at such a young age…

This time he needed to be reckless. This time he needed to act without having all the information. This time he needed to be there for his brother.

That's why he dived through the window after hearing more shots go off. That's why he held his gun at the ready when he rolled over the mass of desks that were blockading the door. That's why he stepped past his brother's unmoving body in a puddle of blood on the floor…

He needed to stop the shooting and get a hold of the boy in charge of all this. He needed to make sure he would never hurt him again.

He needed to make sure that he would never be able to hurt anyone ever again…he would never let anyone hurt Charlie again…

He silently promised him that.

* * *

Scott dropped the boy to the floor realizing that Skull's shot for him had killed Shard instead. He lowered him in shock of holding a dead body that could've been his.

He looked up at the shattering of glass that had broken everyone's concentration. A man with spiky brown hair came through the classroom window and climbed over all the desks holding his gun at the ready.

"Nobody move!" he screamed. "Everyone on the ground!"

Scott watched as Matt dropped to the floor at once and he slowly did the same holding his smarting arm. He felt some relief knowing that the cops got someone in there to help them. They weren't doing a bad job at stopping these kids themselves, but they knew when they needed help.

He slowly turned to make sure that Flame and Frost were still down. They were and he was about to breath a sigh of relief that this could be almost over when he saw out of the corner of his eye Eve being held at gunpoint by Thorn. He choked on his breath as his face went blank.

* * *

Matt still held the gun, which was dropped in the scuffle, but he found that he couldn't move. He was afraid of being mistaken for the enemy by the guy who jumped into the room claiming to be Don Eppes from the FBI. That meant that this guy could actually shoot unlike these gang wannabes that had killed Pete and shot at many of his friends.

He watched Ashley's form, which lay by the wall. He needed to make sure that everyone was all right. Next to him he noticed Scott's body go rigid. He turned to see what he was looking at and saw Eve with a gun in her face. He swiveled back to see what was happening with Agent Eppes when he felt someone pulling him to his feet by his shaggy hair. In his surprise he let his grip on the gun loosen and it hit the floor silently.

A gun appeared at his head and he knew who was holding the trigger.

This was not good…

* * *

"Agent Eppes," an insidious voice said quietly over the din of frightened whispers and groans. "I was wondering if you cared for your brother at all."

Don kept his face impassive and his gun arm steady. There was Jared standing directly in front of him. He would've immediately fired a round into his chest but he was holding a student by the hair in front of him. A gun was trained on his skull.

The boy being held looked slightly like Charlie. His dark curly hair was messed and some hang loosely into his pale face.

"Let him go…" Don said quietly not making a move.

His face spread into a sick smile. "You do know that if you'd have just stayed out there then I wouldn't have to kill you…like I did to your brother."

Don paled but kept his stance. He didn't get a good look at Charlie when he entered. He couldn't be sure if he was alive or dead…

He couldn't think about that now. He needed to stay focused.

He had to be alive.

Apparently something in Don's eyes shone through to the boy before him, whose smile widened.

"You don't believe me do you?" he inquired. His smile suddenly gave out and his tone hardened. "I shot your little brother three times. I wasted three fucking bullets on him. Three fucking bullets!"

Don didn't say a word and gripped his gun tighter to keep his hand from shaking.

Someone was talking quietly behind them. It sounded like two girls but neither one of them took their eyes off their target. The boy that Jared held gave out a small-frightened noise. He kept glancing at the gun trained on his seizer and the gun aimed at his head.

"We're all going to die you know, Matt," Jared hissed into the ear of the boy. "You might as well get used to the thought that we're all going to die. Just like his brother…"

"He's not dead!" Don snapped not wanting to bear the weight of his brothers life on his shoulders.

"I went to a therapist once after my dad was killed," he said quietly with no smile this time. "She told me to let go of my feelings and let it all out. Well now I'm letting go of my feelings, and this is the only way I know how… I know I'm not getting out of here so I think you should just let go of your feelings and shoot just me already."

There was nothing but a look of hatred on his face.

"Like father like son I suppose…killed by the same man…"

"Jared, let go of him…"

A look of fury rose through to his face and Don saw him start to pull the trigger but before he could do anything, someone else shot first…

BANG

BANG

Jared fell to the ground as a girl with mocha skin and a nose ring held her gun trained on where he stood, while a pale girl with purple hair stood behind her.

She then dropped the gun to her side and bowed her head as the other girl put her hand onto her sobbing shoulder.

* * *

Don saw Jared drop and Matt still standing, shocked and shaking but otherwise fine, before running the few steps behind him to get to his brother.

Three bullets had entered into his flesh…

He pulled his cell phone form out of his pocket while quickly getting to his knees beside his brother's body. He speed dialed Terry and put his phone on speaker as he gently moved Charlie's pale hand off his stomach and ripped open his shirt.

"Lake…" came an answer on the phone.

"Terry, its Don. It's over. Get me an ambulance now!"

"Don, what…"

"Just get medical help in here now, Terry!"

He hung up as he looked at the harm that had been done to his brother.

The burning feeling of bile rose in his throat but he held it down. Tears clouded his eyes as he saw the damage that had awaited him.

"Oh, Charlie…"

He quickly felt his wrist for a pulse and barely found one.

Three bullet wounds were staring back at him. The one in the shoulder didn't look too bad (the bleeding had almost stopped) but the shots that had entered his chest and abdomen were what worried him. He removed his dress shirt and under shirt and held them down in both those areas.

His brother groaned in pain; Don felt his own stomach clench in pity and fear that he wouldn't make it until the paramedics got to him.

"Charlie," Don said quietly wanting his brother to come around. "Charlie… come on buddy…"

His skin was so cold and his breathing was barely there. Blood was trailing from his mouth and bruises lined his face.

He couldn't remember a time where he'd seen his brother like that. He did remember many times when he saw victims in that shape; most of them ended up dying before anyone could help them…

But this wasn't just some stranger that Don didn't know… this was Charlie…

The blood was soaking through both of Dons shirts but that made him apply more pressure.

Charlie gave another half-hearted moan and squirmed a bit but Don wasn't going to let his brother go. Not like this…

"Charlie, its alright…" Don knew that was a downright lie but he couldn't stop himself from saying it. "Come on buddy…come back…"

Two identical twin tears slipped past Charlie's eyelids as he squeezed his eyes tighter against the pain. He tensed and let in a ragged gasp.

He heard people running down the hallway. He knew it was his team.

"Don…" his voice trailed off slowly and Don thought he had drifted back into unconsciousness again but Charlie kept going. "I knew you'd get here…"

Don smiled as he let go of one tear glad to know that his brother had faith in him. Now he had to stay strong as he felt himself losing all faith inside of himself…

* * *

A/N: Anyone want to tell me a place that sells really really good cappuccino because that is what got me to write this chapter. I am now addicted! Well it's a better addiction than drugs I guess…some dude offered me drugs yesterday…GO D.A.RE.!

No peer pressure for me and I have an A+ average in English so I am very happy with myself. Also I got a great part in the talent show (again). The chorus teacher made me try out by begging me to sing so I did and I got in (again). I'm getting tired of singing in front of people but they seem to like it. Also there is a three day weekend because of Columbus Day! I am spending the entire weekend at the theater with Xani and we're going to watch Serenity and The Corpse Bride (again).And Numb3rs is on tonight!YAY!

I am so happy right now so I have to post for you readers who like this because I want to make you happy now too! I didnt proofread this so well either so be kind...If you want to make me happier then you'll review for me!

Thankies (and have a great weekend folks!)

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	8. Your Eyes Vacant and Stained

Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or its characters/settings.

A/N: I'm BACK andjust in time for the holidays!

* * *

Matt looked around the room. In his mind it seemed so quiet to him, when in reality screams of some hysterical girls were echoing around the school. People were crying all around him, but he found that he couldn't.

A gun was pointed at his head and he survived it.

A gun was pointed at Ashley's head and she survived it.

A gun was pointed at Pete's head and he was now dead.

He couldn't move.

He wanted to move from the center of the room. He wanted to move away from the body of his fellow classmate. He wanted to go home…

His eyes widened and he finally saw everything around him start to move.

He instantly heard the screams and cries. He was able to move and took half a dozen stumbled steps away from the dead boy at his feet.

He suddenly realized what could've happened to him.

He could've died…

He fell to his knees and vomited up everything he remembered eating in his entire life.

He felt a hand on his shoulder as the last of his heaves subsided. He coughed, wiped his mouth, and then looked up. It was Ashley. She had a small cut on her forehead and she didn't seem to steady on her feet, but she was alive.

"Hey," he rasped quietly, his throat burning.

"Hey," she replied faintly.

"You okay?" he asked.

She shook her head slightly.

"I don't think anyone is, but at least we were the ones who did something…"

She nodded.

He started to stand and he took her elbow to help her up as well.

He spotted Scott leaning against a far wall near the twins, who were still tied. Eve was sitting on his lap holding what looked like her sweater to his arm; blood was soaking through the fabric.

She said something to him and he nodded. She got up and picked up something off the floor a few feet away. She then walked over to where Thorn sat holding her dead brother in her arms. She was crying softly running her fingers through his hair. Eve held out what she had been holding.

It was the rock that Eve hit her in the head with. Thorn started crying harder and held the dead boy to her chest rocking him back and forth. Matt heard her muttering words of apology and forgiveness even though she knew they fell onto deaf ears.

Eve went back to Scott and took her place in his arms, again resting her hand on his shoulder and holding the cloth to his arm. Even though he was in pain from the wound in his arm he let her stay there and wrapped his good arm around her in a more protective gesture.

Matt then noticed that Ashley was no longer beside him. He looked around bewildered to find her holding Pete's body doing almost exactly what Thorn was to her brother. He decided to leave her be and went, turning full circle searching, to see who else had been felled in the attack.

He saw another classmate, Colleen Ramos, on the floor surrounded by a few friends while blood was leaking from a chest wound; he couldn't see her breathing and suspected her to be dead as well. Rich Wright was hunched over holding a bullet wound in his shoulder, as the girl next to him, Julia Chase, was holding her leg.

Matt turned away, feeling once again nauseous at the sight of all the blood. He couldn't quiet the moans and screams though.

That's when his eyes fell on one of the people he forgotten was in the room.

The substitute teacher…

A few kids were making fun of him in the back of the room when he began to teach their class that day.

Eppes, Matt thought his name was.

He was almost sure that the guy would've been dead by the time they got out, but he could've been wrong.

Agent Eppes, Matt had now guessed, had to be the professor's brother…

They were brothers…

The FBI agent was kneeling next to him. He was trying to stop the bleeding and wake him up.

Maybe Matt had been right… maybe the sub was dead…

Feeling completely helpless at the sights, not sure how to help, he walked over to where Eve and Scott were.

"How are you holding up?" he asked sitting down heavily next to the boy.

"It just stings a bit," he said looking down at his makeshift bandaged arm with pained eyes. "I don't think the bullet hit anything. How about you, Matt? It got pretty close back there. You okay?"

"I don't think anyone is really… I mean how could you be after this…"

"Yea…"

Eve was quiet, watching Thorn and Shard across the room. Her face was blank.

"You going to be okay, Eve?" Matt finally asked her peering into her face.

She looked at him slowly and shrugged a bit.

"I don't know…" her voice broke off like it usually did.

"I'm sorry I got you guys involved," Matt said looking athis otherinjured peers, who were huddled together in front of them. "Something just needed to be done."

"We probably would've done something without your signals anyway," Scott said trying not to make him feel so responsible.

Silence fell between them again and then Matt was filled with curiosity when he remembered seeing Eve do something a few moments ago.

"What did you give her?" he asked quietly pointing at Thorn.

Eve was quiet for another moment and didn't look at him. She started off slowly as if she afraid of what she might say.

"Kevin used to collect rocks a…and funny things he'd find by the side of the road… When I moved away from him and Cass he… he gave me his favorite one," her voice kept breaking and she wouldn't look at him. "It was all… almost perfectly round and had a jagged line that looked like a crooked smile and… and two holes that went all the way through that looked like eyes. He… he thought that it was meant to tell people that even though you aren't always made per… perfect you should always smile… he had such a nice smile…"

Matt watched a tear slide down her face as she paused, took a deep breath, then continued.

"He didn't want to do this… I know he didn't… Kevin wouldn't do something like this on his own… I thought Cass knew better than to get him involved with this…"

She then burst into sobs. Scott kept his good arm around her and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"It's alright…" he whispered. "Everything's over now…"

Matt turned his face away and feeling stronger now he turned and looked around once again.

Ashley held Pete's body…

The FBI agent held his brother's body…

Colleen's friends held her body…

Thorn heldShard's body…

Scott held Eve tightly…

Matt heard people running down the hallway and he finally felt himself start to break. Shouts in FBI coding were being echoed everywhere. Scott was right…

It was finally over…

* * *

The lights were off in the room and the setting sun cast barely enough light into the building. The smell of blood was heavy and Terry saw much of it smeared on the tile floor. None of the kids had been able to run out of the room yet.

None had known it was truly safe enough.

A group of students sat huddled together in the center of the room. Terry suspected that they had been afraid to move from their spot. She looked around and saw that three boys and a girl were dead, and two were tied up with what looked like shoelaces. A large muscled boy was sitting at the edge of the room holding an uncommon looking girl in his arms, with a shaggy haired boy sitting near them. People were holding onto the dead like life lines.

Terry wished they could understand how to let go…

After looking around the room for a few moments she finally saw who she was looking for.

"Don!"

She rushed to him.

"How much longer for those paramedics, Terry?" he asked not even looking up from his brother, who she could tell was not doing very good.

"ETA is barely five minutes," she said hastily watching the younger Eppes cough blood up from his struggling lungs.

Don groaned quietly glancing at the blood dripping down his already ensanguined chin. She knew how badly he wanted to wipe it away, but his hands were kind of busy already. She knelt down next to him and wiped Charlie's face with her white linen sleeve, which would now be stained with the blood permanently.

She leaned back on her heels again and this time Don turned to look at her. His eyes looked pained and desperate. He needed someone to tell him what she knew had to be said.

"It's not your fault."

He looked at her with sharp eyes, but said nothing. His gaze shifted back to his brother.

She swept the hair away from his cool forehead trying to give as much comfort as possible. She knew how painful a gunshotwound could be, but she had never experienced three at once.

"Terry," Don said quietly not taking his eyes away from him. "Can you have someone call my dad? He should know about…"

"Yea," Terry said quickly cutting off whatever Don hesitated to say. "Yea, of course."

More agents were coming through the doorway rounding up the students, finding out who the dead were, and which teens were responsible. Terry would've been over with them if she didn't know that Don needed her, whether or not he admitted it.

* * *

Charlie was back in the hazy fog between sleep and consciousness. The only way he could tell the difference between the two was that Don was in the world of the awake.

Don wasn't with him now though…

He was struggling to breathe and was starting to feel very cold. He should've brought a jacket with him, but the day started out so warmly. His mouth tasted like blood and he felt himself start to shiver.

He couldn't open his eyes anymore. He didn't remember how, but he could still hear sounds from the real world.

He heard a boy yelling at someone in Spanish and he didn't sound to happy about whatever he was being told.

A girl was screaming loudly.

"Let go of me! Let me go! He needs me! I'm sorry, Kevin! Leave me alone!"

Her voice faded away as whomever was telling her to calm down dragged her off.

Was Kevin the one he let die?

Wait… no that was Pete.

Another one died? After all the shots he heard fired he shouldn't have been surprised, but how many were dead?

Would anyone blame him for it?

Would he only blame himself?

His eyes opened suddenly and he caught a sight of Don with Terry. Theylooked so good together. He wasn't sure why they weren't a couple yet...

He felt kind of silly now. How could he forget how to open his eyes?

"D-Don…" he muttered as his teeth chattered.

"Yea, buddy…" Don responded moving his ear closer to his mouth to hear him better.

"How m-many d-d-dead?"

It was harder to get the words out now.

"You don't need to worry about that now, buddy," Don said quickly. Charlie saw his eyes flash in pity, but wasn't sure if it was for him or the kids.

Charlie needed to know if he was going to really die, but he knew Don wouldn't tell him the truth either way.

"Is-is it b-bad?"

"No, you're going to be fine."

Charlie couldn't help his next reaction no matter how much it pained him.

"L-liar..." He smiled weakly and chuckled slightly. He felt himself cough a bit more blood up onto the floor.

The edges of his vision were growing darker and darker and he knew he had to say what he wanted to now before he was finally taken from his brother.

"Love you and d-dad…"

His voice was scarcely a whisper and he knew Don could barely hear him now.

"I-I'll t-tell Mom you and d-dad say h-hi…"

And with those words his older brother's loving face disappeared from view, and his older brother's desperate pleads for him to come back faded.

* * *

"Charlie!"

He couldn't leave him now. Not now…

"No… no… no…" the long stream of repeating words issued from his mouth without command and his hands were shaking.

He stopped breathing…

"No…no…no…"

He took one of his blood soaked hands off his chest and felt the side of his neck.

"No…no…no…"

There was nothing there. No steady pulse or faint murmur.

"No…no…no…"

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, which reminded him of how cold Charlie's skin had gotten. Some one was telling him to move.

"No…no…no…"

The voice sounded familiar but he had forgotten everyone and everything around him.

"No…no…no…"

Strong hands had taken a hold of him and started to drag him away, but he didn't realize it. He couldn't take his eyes off his brother's face and found he was unable to fight back.

"No…no…no…"

Someone had moved in front of his view of Charlie and caused him to finally snap out of his repetition of that one simple pleading word.

He blinked once… twice… three times and finally brought himself to look up into two of the people he knew that could understand what it was like to have his job.

David was saying something to him. His eyes were filled with rue, but Don didn't care anymore. Let people feel sorry for him… he let his brother die…

Terry was down kneeling next to him. Her hand was on his shoulder and she was forcing his eyes to look into hers.

She had nice eyes…

"I'm fine…" he managed to mutter. It was a downright lie, but what else could he say to get them to go back to their jobs and leave him with his lamenting. "Go help the kids…"

He had almost forgotten about the other dozens of people in the room. He peered past Terry's shoulder and back at his brother's form, which was being swarmed by paramedics.

He heard David say something to him before walking off again.

Terry sent him a small look and then turned back. "He's going to call your father, Don. As you said he should know about Charlie."

"Yea…"

Don watched as the paramedics tried to bring back his brother, who was just like Don wasnow.

An empty shell…

* * *

A/N: Whew… finally done with Chapter 8! Anyone besides me happy that chapter 8 is over and up? Think of this as your Christmas gift from me! I am so happy now that I got this up... ok gonna go get prepared for tonight's episode. Hope you enjoyed! Please review!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	9. As Days Fade And Nights Grow, We Go Cold

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or even claim to. I am using these characters without permission and am not making any money on this fictional piece.

A/N: This story is becoming quite a hassle… I'm sitting in the dark right now trying to remember how I left off with the last chapter…geometry can wait…lets see if I can remember how to do this…

* * *

It was dark.

Twilight had just settled down past the trees and the street lamps were now lit, leading late workers home from their daily labor. Cars returned to their garages to rest until the morning sounded, as it did on a regular basis.

Most of these nights were almost silent…

Most nights…

The black sky seemed to vibrate with people's cries and screams. The stars seemed to shake and shudder under the stress of listening to the screeching sobs of the worried people down on solid ground.

Blue and red lights flashed as sirens wailed.

The building had been barricaded far back holding people behind it. Other students, terrified friends, and apprehensive families were huddled together into one giant weeping mass. News crews were outside this huddle interviewing students and adults, then reporting back to their stations.

FBI personnel were there as well, scattered among the many cops and the sea of weepers; and it was this group of people that the man was looking through.

His eyes were one of the few pairs still dry. He had no idea about what was going on. He hadn't been home long enough to turn on the news. He literally walked through the door of his home when the phone started to ring. He was told to come here, but he hadn't expected to find anything like this…

"Excuse me!" his voice came out louder than he had intended it to, but that was due to the increasing feeling of panic inside of himself.

An squad of ambulances had just skidded to a stop nearby and teams of paramedics had swarmed out with stretchers and bags of various medical equipment in their capable hands.

"Excuse me!" he said again louder still at the man in front of him keeping people behind the barricades. He had pushed his way up front in order to speak to someone who might know what was going on.

The man's face flashed with pity for a moment before it returned to its passive form. He looked to be around his oldest son's age, with a nice jaw line and muscular build. His hair was darker then his though but around the same length. He was wearing a navy blue vest with the yellow letters "F.B.I." printed upon it.

"What do you need, sir?" he asked in a deep husky voice.

"I'm looking for my son. I was called down here…. What happened?" he asked quietly.

"All I know is that some kids pulled out guns and shot a few students," he looked behind him for a second watching the teams of medics rush into the dark building. "About your son, no one is sure when they can get the students out yet. We have to make sure that all the suspects are apprehended and the injured are brought out…"

"No, you don't understand…"

The man looked at the father for a second.

"He's not a student. He's an FBI agent. His name is Don Eppes…"

* * *

Flashes of red and blue…

Screams of boys and girls…

Bodies of dead and undead…

Everything seemed slower to him now.

He was under water and trying to hear…

Trying to speak…

Trying to feel something…

Why couldn't he move?

He hadn't been hurt.

Why couldn't he move?

Someone was talking to him.

Someone had been talking to him for awhile.

He hadn't paid attention to them 'till now…

He realized that they knew that their words weren't being heard, but that didn't stop them.

The voice was nice and soothing.

It was bringing the images into focus and everything started to speed up.

They brought him out of the ocean's tide.

He felt someone rubbing his back and running their fingers through his damp hair.

The pressure in his ears was released, but the pressure on his eyes returned in ten-fold.

Tears spilled as he let loose into the small form that was holding him.

They didn't mind though, but moved to comfort him more.

Thin arms wrapped themselves around his shaking frame as he sobbed into white linen.

"I'm sorry… Charlie, I'm so sorry… wasn't here… too slow… too slow…"

They tried hushing him with kind words and noises.

"It's alright, Don. I'm here."

A compassionate voice penetrated his thoughts slowly.

"Shh… you'll be alright… you'll be alright…"

But his mind didn't care anymore about himself.

Charlie wouldn't be alright…

"He's not alright, Terry… Charlie's not alright…"

Don's eyes were red… His jacket blue…

Charlie's blood was red… his lips were blue…

Red and blue flashes scattered through the blinded windows…

* * *

David was outside again.

He was taking in all the sounds and images.

Worried families and friends were the majority of people in the crowd. Some just were being nosy and wanted to get a look at what was happening. Some were people who worked in the school and reporters lined the edges of the area scanning for any bit of exciting news or people to interview.

Some of the ambulances had already zoomed off into the night as people around the perimeter tried looking at the bodies on the stretchers to see if it was one of their own.

Confusion was the main word that came to David's mind when he thought of this scene.

Everyone was scared and no one knew anything about those that were inside.

"David!" he heard someone call from close by. He was amazed that he heard his name called through all the noise.

He turned and saw a familiar face among all the foreign ones.

"Alan?" he called running towards him. "Mr. Eppes, I didn't expect to see you get down here so fast…"

"David, what happened here? Where's Don? Is he alright?" he didn't let David finish his sentence before asking the main questions on his mind.

"He's inside, Mr. Eppes, and he's fine."

"Oh thank god!" Alan exclaimed closing his eyes tightly in relief that his eldest was safe.

"But… that's not why I called you down here…"

His eyes slowly opened and his face was confused.

"What do you mean, David?"

He took a deep breath and started out slowly.

"Don told me to call you because you should know that…"

He paused took another large inhale of oxygen.

"We didn't know about this until we got here but…"

Alan looked deeply into David's eyes. They were downcast and sad. Pity was in his every movement and gesture.

It was getting harder and harder for Alan to stay calm now. He had a brief thought of jumping the fence and shaking the information he wanted out of his son's fellow agent.

But he didn't do that. He would never do that…

"Let mw go get Don, Mr. Eppes… he should tell you. Stay here…"

Alan opened his mouth and he felt his heart start to race.

What was wrong?

---

"Don!" a new voice penetrated his waterlogged mind.

He knew this one too.

It was David.

His stood shakily up and looked around for his brother…

His body had been removed from the scene.

A large puddle of blood was left in his place…

His blood…

The seriously wounded were gone, while paramedics were checking the other in the room,

Minor bullet wounds were the worst that were left. The group still sat in the middle of the room, Don guessed, still afraid to move. Some police officers were getting statement to the three that helped stop the long day with him.

Then his eyes stayed only on David who was running towards him.

"Don, your dad's here…"

His mind went into overload again as he realized the weight of what he had to tell his father.

"Oh god…"

Don just stared into space, not looking at anyone or anything.

"Don," Terry said forcing him to look at her. "I can tell him if you…"

"No…" Don said quietly. "I'll do it. I have to do it…"

Out he walked past the screaming and confused with David and Terry at his side.

His mind was trying to formulate the right way to form the words that would tell his father that his baby boy had died, because he wasn't quick enough.

Red blood...

Bue lips...

* * *

A/N: I know ii'm evil… but I'm busy and evil so… This took way too long to get out so review for me. That'll get me nice and ready to type up the next chapter and quick! Thankies!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	10. Forgive Me Father, Your Son Is Smiling

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or anything of much importance.

A/N: HAPPY SPRING! Here's chapter 10.

* * *

Staring out through the confused crowd was Alan Eppes, proud and protective father of two exceptional sons. His eyes were frantic searching through the trickling stream of people leaving and entering the building in front of him.

He saw many faces he thought he'd glimpsed before, around his son's office, but he didn't know any names. The only work friends his son had, that he knew of, used to be over at the house every other week.

He'd seen David already, but strangely that encounter left Alan more confused.

David said that Don was fine, which calmed Alan for a few moments before he realized that the man was leaving something out of his unfinished statement. He left him to get Don, leaving Alan to feel more alone than ever.

He said that there was something that Don needed to tell him, but left no clue as to what that something was.

Hoping for some hint as to what was happening there, he turned and looked around surveying everything from the screaming faces of the crowd to the way the flashing lights reflected off of close by vehicles and the building's windows.

Looking through the crowd he gasped.

By the time he realized what he had seen and did a double take it was gone.

He was gone…

Maybe his mind was fooling him for a moment, but he was sure that he'd seen him standing there smiling at him.

He saw his thirteen year old Charlie standing among the crying crowd…

And he was the only one smiling…

* * *

Walking…

It felt weird to move outside again. It seemed like ages since he had been out of the school.

The feeling reminded him of when he was in high-school, many years ago. He always thought that it would never end until finally the "freedom" bell rang and he'd sprint out of his class as fast as humanly possible. He ran like he did when he was stealing a base in his most promising game at school.

He vaguely noticed that Terry and David were behind him. They didn't want to leave him in a time like this…

How would his father take this?

Would he blame Don or himself?

Would he cry or stay stone faced?

Would he hit Don or embrace him?

It would be too much for both Don and his father and he knew that.

That's why he was having such a hard time moving forward.

He wanted to stop but couldn't… why couldn't he stop?

He was halfway to the barrier where he saw a large sea of people held behind the breakable pieces of wood. If the current of people kept pushing they would be set adrift into the parking lot. Free to float…

The last thing the area needed was a riot.

Don's eyes swept past the unfamiliar until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned startled preparing himself to see Terry, but he found that she was no longer behind him… nor in any range of his sight…

He looked at David with weary eyes as he pointed ahead of him. He looked where he was being directed to and found his father's searching eyes. He was nudged gently and took a timid step forward, but stopped as the crowd's noise faded away.

He couldn't do this…

Alan hadn't spotted him yet…

He could turn around and…

What?

What could he do?

Hide?

The last time he remembered hiding from his father was when he was ten-years old and accidentally broke his great-grandmothers flower vase.

That happened when he was ten…

He was over thirty now…

He was too old to hide and too old to run.

He took a slow breath willing his eyes to stop swimming.

He put his foot forward for a second time, then a third, and then a fourth until his stopped counting.

His father had spotted him around step fifteen, but he kept moving unable to look into Alan's eyes. He heard him calling him.

Vaguely he realized how much he wanted Terry to be with him…

At step forty-three he reached the edge of the barrier and that's when he looked up into his eyes.

"Don!" He heard before he was grabbed into a tight concern-filled embrace. Don just stood limply still trying to think of how to say the words.

"I was so worried about you," Alan said pulling back and holding his son by the shoulders looking him over. "Are you alright?" he asked, as Don watched his smile fade. Alan had seen his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Charlie's blood…

Charlie's skin…

Charlie's eyes…

Charlie's face…

Charlie's words…

He used to be so jealous of Charlie, and Charlie had been so jealous of Don as well…

They grew so far apart because of that and just when they were starting to become close…

"Donnie, what happened?"

His dad's voice shattered his memories of the younger Eppes brothers just like the vase he broke at age ten.

He felt himself being lightly shaken.

"Donnie?"

Up went his eyes and down went his stomach when he saw his dad's face. He heard the unsaid words inside his head being repeated over and over, now all he had to do was say them aloud.

'Say it'

"D-dad…" he stuttered slowly. "Charlie was… Charlie was in there…"

He felt his eyes start to give way the barriers they had once held strong.

"We didn't know at first… He… he was giving the class a lecture and…"

He wanted to keep going, but he felt his throat start to close around the words he still held and his head went down again. He remembered when he was little he thought that if he had his eyes closed he was invisible.

He wished that were true.

"Well… is he alright?" he heard Alan say quietly. The grip on his shoulders was loosening slightly. "Don…"

He couldn't help that his eyes were starting to dampen and when he looked up he almost lost it. Shock and dread was in his eyes when he looked into them.

"No, Dad… he's not alright… Ch-Charlie's not alright… he… he was s-shot…multiple times…and… Dad… he's… he's…"

One more word…

He had to say one more word…

His father's hands slipped off his shoulders and his face went blank…

He didn't need to say it.

He knew…

The roar of the crowd came back to his ears and he heard someone familiar calling his name.

He turned slowly as in a daze to see Terry running towards them with tears streaming down her face, that wouldn't have surprised him except that she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Don!"

She grabbed him tightly and while in that hug he felt like he should always be there. It reminded him of how his mother used to comfort them.

She ended the embrace by pulling back and looked deep into his eyes and said three words Don would never in his entire life forget.

"He's not dead…"

He could only stare at her contrasting face of grief and happiness.

Heartache and joy…

"Charlie's not dead…"

Don dove back into the roar of the sea…

And the rest was just a blur…

* * *

A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't been around for almost two months. I've started almost five new Numb3rs fics that will soon become more than just "one shots" so I'm making myself wait until I finish NATP first before I post them, but I can't help but work on them. I've been busy with auditions for various high school things (I'm the hat seller/mob/piece of furniture in our production of Beauty and the Beast and am still waiting for the list to come up to see if I made it into the Cabaret). The only reason this got done was because I've been sick for a few days and got a review yesterday about this. I didn't realize how long it had been since chapter 9. (Sorry again about that…)

Please review and give me ideas, because I only planned up to this point and I don't know what to do next. (I'm getting tired of long drawn out hospital scenes because my last chapter fic "Hit and Run" was just one long hospital scene.) hmm… that gives me an idea…

Thankies!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	11. The Killing Lights

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

* * *

"He's alive…"

After that all it Don saw were blurs of faces and lights. He remembered someone leading him to a car and the streetlamps made their flickering beams enter and exit Don's thoughts, like passing memories of when he and Charlie were children.

The constant fighting between both of them seemed so important to him now, because he said so many things to his brother that he wished now were left completely unsaid.

Don rarely hurt Charlie physically. There was that one huge wrestling match on the front lawn during their senior year at high school, which Don undoubtedly won. Then there was that one fight that started when Charlie said the completely wrong thing at the totally wrong time and it caused Don to fly into a frenzy. He didn't remember the conversation that started it but the topic of college popped into his mind when he thought about it.

He used to have to drag Charlie to the park with his friends because his parents forced him, and there were a few scraped elbows and knees then, but why did that matter now?

What was the point of remembering these childhood hurts?

Charlie was alive but he still was dying; so why did all this matter?

It didn't…

It didn't matter then to anyone… except him…

Don wanted to forget everything that happened during their childhood.

It hurt too much to think about what he had done to hurt his brother.

There were times when he wished that his brother had never been born.

No one to shadow him…

No one to make him jealous...

No one to take his Mom's and Dad's attention…

He hated this but he had to admit that he was very jealous of his baby brother as a kid.

When his parents found out about how special their Charlie was, there was a brief period of time when that's all they cared about.

Finding Charlie special teachers...

Getting Charlie special things…

Protecting Charlie from everything that could hurt him…

They always loved Don but he never got that sort of attention from them. It wasn't till recently that he actually realized how hard Charlie had it.

No friends…

Always being picked on…

Treated different…

An outsider…

How could Don ever want that?

He wished now that he understood how difficult Charlie's life could be when he was younger.

He felt the vehicle he was sitting in slow and then stop with a sharp jerk. He heard and felt the wrench of his father's door as he almost ran into the building they had stopped in front of.

The hospital…

That's where Charlie was…

The driver got out in a slower manner than his father. They opened his door for him when they realized he wasn't moving.

"Come on…" the voice was soft and quiet. "Lets go find Charlie…"

Looking up into her blue eyes. He felt as though he would die if they looked away.

"Thanks Terry…"

She smiled with sad eyes and helped him out of the car and enter through the doors Alan had rushed through moments ago.

* * *

Terry didn't want to leave Don alone with David when they exited the school but she had to find out what had happened to Charlie. She'd gotten quite close to the youngest Eppes' son over the past few months and it tore at her to think he was dead.

So she'd gone to the paramedic team and asked what had happened with Charlie's body, unaware that he was still alive.

A young man had looked confused for a moment before he told her that they'd taken him to a hospital and that he was alive.

Her numbness began to melt and finally she let her eyes let go of the sadness they held only to let the happiness flow.

She remembered asking about which one he'd been taken to before tuning to find a shaky Don talking to a very pale Alan Eppes. She grabbed him willing him to stop trembling before telling him the happiest thing he'd probably ever heard.

But that didn't mean that he was safe yet…

She knew she'd be the one to drive them. David would handle the scene from then on.

Terry had seen all the blood on the floor of the room and knew how bad Charlie was but he was still alive.

His heart still pumping…

Neither Alan or Don spoke on the ride to the hospital but she didn't try and provoke conversation. Silence seemed to be the best thing at the moment.

Right as she parked Alan opened the door and ran into the building, while Don just sat there staring at nothing.

Seeing him, like that made her want to cry harder than before.

She felt helpless and alone…

She could only imagine how Don felt…

Was this truly the life of an FBI agent?

* * *

When Don entered he found his Dad talking with the secretary. She'd said that Charlie had been taken up to surgery, once he was stable.

Don imagined his brother on a cold metal table bleeding and bleeding and bleeding and bleeding and…

He was having a really hard time believing that his brother would be alright.

He felt Terry behind him. He knew that she could've left after dropping them off but she didn't.

She was still there…

Don remembered when he was little his mom seemed to hold the answers to everything. If his mom said that everything was going to be alright it would be. She could fix everything.

He felt Terry move closer to him until she was standing right beside him. She took his hand in hers and squeezed slightly.

Terry was with him…

Maybe everything would be alright…

* * *

All of Alan's insides were in tangled knots as he went up the elevator with Don and Terry at his side.

He wanted to blame someone for this.

He wanted to point the finger at anyone and give away his blame.

It wasn't his fault…

It wasn't Don's fault…

It wasn't Charlie's fault…

A part of him wanted to go back to the scene of the shooting and beat the crap out of the boy who shot his son…

Wanted to make him pay for the pain his entire family was feeling…

He wanted so badly to cry but found that he couldn't in front of Don.

Don was a mess himself.

Alan didn't want to point this out to his eldest, but blood was covering Don's clothing and hands.

He could only guess that it was Charlie's…

He didn't think Don noticed but hoped he would soon…

Looking at all of it made is stomach continue to twist.

Don had let himself cry though. The last time Alan remembered him cry was when he was nine and their dog died. After that he became the tough Special Agent Don Eppes that most people knew today.

Don had seen Charlie though…

He had seen Charlie and had been convinced that he'd died.

That's one thing that Alan knew he would never get over.

DING

The elevator door opened and they exited.

* * *

A/N: I know I'm sorry… I kinda died on the inside(no joke) and my muse ran for the hills. I went to Europe and had my finals so I'm all alone and free for almost 3 beautiful weeks with nothing to do but summer reading… its so wonderful!

This chapter has nothing really in it I know but next chapter (I promise) will have amazing amounts of Eppes love and … well maybe not happiness(hint hint) but something more to do with the brothers…

Please review… I've been away so long that I've forgotten what it feels like to receive feedback!

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	12. Bury Your Head

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

---

"Don," he heard Terry say as she put her hand on his shoulder. "it's going to be a long wait until we know what's happening. Why don't we go clean up a bit." Her voice was soft and cautious.

They'd been in the waiting room for almost an hour and she'd noticed Alan's pained looks at the dried blood on his son. Don had stopped crying and the only remaining evidence of his loose floodgates were the bloodshot blank eyes.

He looked up slowly at Terry who kept glancing at his hands. He looked down at them and almost puked.

He didn't notice that he was soaked in his brother's blood.

"I can't leave Dad…" he said but trailed off as he heard a ding from the elevator, quick footsteps.

It was Amita with Larry hot on her heels. Tears were streaming down the woman's face, her usually flawless make-up was smudged and her hair was astray. Larry was pale and he was wringing his hands in front of him as if he were trying to squeeze the water out of a dishrag.

"How is he? Do we know anything?" Larry asked spotting the trio. "Oh my…"

He'd noticed the blood covering Don.

"That's not yours is it…" he stated in horror, realizing that Charlie was, without a doubt, in danger.

An icy feeling had started to spread through Don's body. He really looked this time; noticed his hands stained with crimson, his clothing was crusty with rusty blood. Leaping to his feet he spotted the bathroom across the hall, near the elevators and darted inside. It was there that he ripped his soiled shirt off and vacated his already empty stomach into the toilet.

After gagging on bile, he hurriedly fumbled with the sink turning the knob to its hottest temperature, and began scrubbing up to his elbows with soap. His blood was caked under his fingernails and it took every ounce of self-control he had left to keep from ripping them off.

If wasn't until both his limbs were lobster red that he even bothered to look into the mirror in front of him. He raked his wet fingers through his hair trying to guess who this crazed individual was. Slowly he turned off the water letting his back rest on the cold wall behind him. He slowly slid down keeping his face hidden.

---

"Don?" There was a gentle knock on the door. "Don, can I come in?"

Don didn't even bother answering, and the door opened. It was Terry. She didn't look surprised at the sight of her team leader. She had changed out of her stained white linen shirt into one that Don recognized as his father's, a baggy button-down. She held a bundle in her arms.

"Hey…you've been in here awhile. Larry and I went to your house to get some clothes. I brought you these."

She offered the new attire but Don kept his eyes at the floor. Her heart fell as he didn't bother to respond.

"Here…" She placed a navy FBI sweatshirt over his head feeling a bit relieved when he complied by placing his arms in the sleeves. "There you are…" she muttered as his head appeared and he let his eyes meet hers.

What was she doing here? She barely knew Charlie… Was she here all for Don? Did she care that much? She still cared after Quantico?

"Sorry to interrupt," came Larry's voice from the door as he peered inside at the duo. "But the doctor has emerged with supposed news…"

Jumping to his feet Don pushed past both Larry and Terry to make his way back to his father. Larry followed close behind him as Terry slowly stood from her crouched position to begin cleaning the mess Don had made.

"…extensive damage to his upper chest cavity, mostly due to prolonged internal bleeding." Don managed to hear the ending of the sentence as he stood between Amita and his father. "We had to restart his heart during the procedure, but managed to stabilize him." Alan's hand flew to his mouth and Amita hugged herself tightly trying to keep her eyes upward.

The surgeon was Don's age. His eyes were sad, but his face was stiff and strong. Dark stubble caressed his chin and bags lay under his dark glassed eyes.

"We managed to remove two of the bullets without any problem, but the third bullet is lodged in your son's shoulder. We'd rather wait and monitor his vitals before we perform the surgery."

"When can we see him?" Alan asked.

"He'll still be out from the anesthesia but you can be with him for a few minutes. He's been moved to the ICU on the 7th floor and only two of you can go in at a time."

"Thank you," Don's father said quietly, trying to mask the breaks in his voice. He grasped the doctor's hand.

"You have a very strong boy, Mr. Eppes. I'm hoping for the best."

Don turned away and there was Amita holding onto him. He wasn't even sure what had happened. As the doctor had left Amita seemed to lose all the composure she had so skillfully held until that moment. She clutched at the back of Don's sweatshirt and sobbed into his chest. He wasn't sure what to do, so he placed his arms around her.

Alan seeing how awkwardly his eldest was handling his little brother's distraught unofficial girlfriend, managed to loosen him from her grasp and took to managing her instead. He tried shushing her, muttering that it was alright. Charlie would be alright.

Larry managed himself into a chair with his head down in his hands. He seemed very content in staring at the floor.

Don numbly walked to the elevator and hit the up arrow. Floor seven…he had to see him again. Had to reassure himself that…

"Everything will be alright…"

Hospitals always reminded him of his mother's death. He didn't know how to convince himself that people actually left that place alive.

---

A/N: Okay…please don't attack me…I'm trying to come back and finish these fics…I know…I know…I've been gone over a year and I come back with this really awful chapter…Ok I guess I deserve a beating. I'm going to be gone all this weekend so maybe a new chapter next week sometime...I'm trying to finish the other fics I have up here all at once

Sorry…I'm trying to come back to stay. Next chapter…hopefully soon ::nervous laugh::

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	13. One Blood

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

--

The room was dark. That was the first thing Don noticed. The blinds were drawn the lights were mostly off. The most light came from the digital screens at the sides of the stark white bed. The figure seemed to be a corpse on display, with a tube down its throat. The steady slow beeping and the whooshing of the intubator was what told him otherwise. Don was afraid to breathe lest he disturb him. Charlie's dark curls were strewn every which way and contrasted immensely against his pale forehead.

His father seemed to pick up on that fact because he rushed to his boy's side brushing them away from his face. Don stood in the doorway.

He looked so peaceful.

Alan took Charlie's hand from his uninjured side and rubbed the back of it gently with his calloused thumb. He continued to run his fingers through his hair with his other hand.

"Charlie…we thought we lost you." Alan's voice was eerily calm but held a gruffness signifying his urge not to cry. "Come back to us, son."

Don kept his position in the doorway, wanting to go in but fearing it as well. He watched his father at his brother's side and knew he couldn't approach. It was his job to get Charlie out of that room safely and he failed. Not only was his brother hurt but student's lives were lost as well. Families and friends all filled with grief because he messed up. He killed the leaders father…it was his fault.

His eyes trailed to the floor and he didn't look up when his father called his name.

"I messed up," he mumbled.

"Come here."

He kept his head down staring at the floor. The school had similar tiles, but these were white…not stained with blood. For some reason that interested him...

A hand on his shoulder brought his head up. His father had appeared at his side. "Go on."

He gently guided him to the side of the bed; the beeping louder now, with more significance than before. Charlie was alive; he'd gotten him out of that room, and that's all that mattered. He'd gotten him out when he could, and because of that his heart was beating and his lungs were breathing and color was coming back to his cheeks.

Alan took Don's hand and put it on Charlie's.

"This is where he'd want you to be."

Squeezing his little brother's limp hand, Don didn't have to struggle to believe that.

--

Hurts…

BANG

cold…

BANG

Don…

BANG

Grasping onto the tiniest bit of consciousness Charlie struggled to remember…then struggled desperately to forget. He blinked once…twice…three times trying to rid the blurriness from his eyes, then tilting his head gently to the side he saw who he was looking for.

His mouth and lips were dry, so when he moved to speak no sound moved. He rasped a bit in the back of his throat but it wasn't enough to catch the oblivious figure's attention. It hurt to talk but he managed a croaked syllable with his whispery voice.

"Don…"

His older brother had been sitting a chair close by the bed, with his hands folded and head down towards the floor. It looked as if he'd been in that hunched position for some time, and Charlie heard the joints pop when he sat quickly upright. Both smiled, Charlie being with the help of the morphine he was being giving.

"Hey, buddy…how're you feeling?"

Charlie's smile intensified when he noticed how his brother had stood to gently lean against the bed's railing. It was such a caring gesture…one that he wasn't used to from his childhood idol.

"Pretty good considering…I was shot right?"

"Yea…yea you were shot…but you're going to be ok. The doctor says you'll be fine."

"S'good…" Charlie closed his eyes heavily breathing deeply. "Where's dad?"

Don pulled his chair closer and sat back down in order to be eye-level with the patient.

"He went downstairs with Amita and Larry to get lunch."

Charlie's eyes widened and he sounded a bi flabbergasted, "Amita's here?"

Don had to smirk at that question. "Yes, lover boy, and Larry. They both care about you very much, you know. Dad and I had to convince both of them to leave the other night to get some real sleep."

Now Charlie looked truly confused. "Wait…how long have I been out?"

"Almost three days…"

It was then that the true reality of what happened settled in his morphine inhibited mind. The students he was supposed to have saved…the ones who died…would have their funerals soon if not already. Their families would have been told, arrangements made, grieving would have started. Lives would've already been ruined. Friends and other kids who were in the room would probably be traumatized for life and all because he couldn't figure a way out for them. One problem he couldn't solve and no matter how many times he would run it through his mind for the rest of his life he would never have a true solution for it.

Tears welled in the younger Eppes' eyes, and Don took notice. Grasping his brother's hand he inched closer to be eye to eye. "What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, that sent a shooting pain through his body, he opened his mouth and croaked through a thick throat.

"My fault…all of it…"

Don's eyes widened as he watched Charlie's clench in both pain and guilt. Two tears escaped from under their lids and made their way onto his sheets. How could Charlie blame himself? Then again how could Don blame himself? Was it the Eppes' curse to always take the blame for something neither could control?

"No, buddy…no it wasn't." He rubbed Charlie's hand gently. "You did great in there…you did exactly what I would've done."

It was those words that opened Charlie's eyes, which shone in wonder.

Don continued. "I couldn't have done any better."

And with that final note Charlie's mind became fuzzy as he fell back into the deep recesses of sleep with a peaceful mind.

Don sat watching his brother and rubbing his hand gently and slowly the guilt he felt drifted away also.

--

A/N: Yes...i know...I hate me too. I took me another long series of months to add on to this, but good news my readers(if there are any left) I've had a rough outline and major scene of the next chapter(which will be the last of this fic btw YAY) written out since i started this story back in 2005. Crazay i know. Also I didn't really beta read this because then I knew it would never get posted. Sorry about any mistakes.

So anywho...final chapter will be up in a matter of days, two weeks tops. This time i PROMISE!! It's wierd thinkin that when I started this fic I was 15...blows my mind that it was sooo long ago. So as always REVIEW FOR ME!! The journey is almost over.

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


	14. And Gave Them To The Night

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

--

It wasn't until three weeks later that Charlie was able to return to his father's house. Of course he would have to be under the never waning surveillance of both Don and his father. Neither could bear to let him out of their sights. He would be staying down in the family room for the days following, until he could handle dealing with the stairs…or when his father and brother thought he was ready to leave their field of vision.

His arm had been wrapped up and put into a sling to hinder its use. He had needed surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder and fix some of the damage done to the muscle, but the doctor's outlook seemed good; he would gain back most, if not all, motor function. He had a continual dull ache in his chest and abdomen, but that occurred only when he was either in motion or when his painkillers were wearing off.

Wearing sweatpants and a dull Cal-Sci t-shirt he had both his father and brother flocking him to the couch, where he sank down slowly with a sigh. For the sake of his family he tried to keep his face as impassive as possible. It wasn't their fault moving hurt him; they were doing their best to help him maneuver more easily. Don took to gently lifting his legs up onto the cushions as Alan adjusted the pillows behind his back and placed a blanket over him. Charlie had closed his eyes for a moment getting used to not being in his father's car. He sighed preferring the couch cushions to the upholstered seats.

Some of the students that helped Don stop the shooters had stopped by the hospital a few days before his release, Eve, Scott, and Matt. They were all very grateful to both Eppes brothers. It pained Charlie deeply to see them, but also helped him put the events that occurred in the classroom a little further behind him. Apparently the school had made great steps forward and a great deal of bonding had occurred since then. It seemed that everyone had been affected. A memorial service had been held and there was talk of a monument being erected in the front of the building. None of them blamed Charlie for the pandemonium that occurred that day. Many called both he and Don heroes…

The sound of his father saying something about making lasagna pulled him out of his reverie. After all it was his favorite…and spending weeks eating only hospital food was enough to bring his mind back to the idea of having a small gathering over that night. He heard a few slight bangs as his father went rummaging through the kitchen. It had just occurred to him that his father seemed to have been rambling on since he picked him up at the hospital. Amita, Larry, David and Terry were all supposed to be stopping by for dinner with the Eppes that night. Alan wasn't about to call it a party, because Charlie _was_ supposed to be resting, but he did seem to be in his best spirits when Amita and Larry were around. David and Terry were invited to try and keep the level of overpowering genius conversation to a minimum. Alan and Don tended to use anyone as a buffer when they were let loose with those three in a room.

The thought of Amita made Charlie smile even more. After he'd been let out of ICU Amita rarely left his side. She and Larry were helping to fill in his classes while he was lying all injured and pathetic, and even though the constant inability to do nothing annoyed him to no end, he couldn't help but feel better when she was there…the way she would walk in and sometimes stand by his bed holding his hand or rub his hair out of his eyes. She'd kiss him on the cheek before she would leave his room and when her dark raspberry smelling hair was down it would encircle his face and tickle his neck. He would breathe in her scent, which was a breath of fresh air wherever he was but especially in an antiseptic scented prison. Sometimes instead of kissing his cheek she would give him a peck on the nose, then she would smile and promise to come by again soon.

The feeling of someone leaning over him brought Charlie back into the present once more. Opening his eyes he spotted Don's dark eyes, a glass of water, and his pills.

"Drink up," Don said, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Then you can nap, Sleeping Beauty."

"If I do, does that make you my Prince Charming?" Charlie asked popping the pills in his mouth and slowly swallowing them with the aid of the water.

His older brother gave a soft chuckle. "We'll see." He straightened up taking the empty glass from his brother's hand.

"You're leaving, but what about dinner?"

"I have a few hours before the big extravaganza, don't I, Chuck?" Don gently ruffled the top of his brother's head. "I just have to check in at the office first, but don't worry I'll be back before all the fun begins."

"Good…" Charlie sighed closing his eyes. "How much you wanna bet that you're gonna to be late again?"

This time Don gave smile, left unnoticed by his brother, who seemed to have already fallen into a slumber.

"Not a chance."

--

Don made it to the office after enduring the grueling amounts of traffic. The slow trudging of the cars left his thoughts able to drift. He wished he could catch himself when he started to zone out because every time his thoughts were left unattended they always returned to _that_ day.

The scariest day of his life…

He woke up in cold sweats every night since, making sleep seem impossible. He was afraid to intentionally doze off and usually just let himself unintentionally float off due to alcohol and reruns of classic television.

So with a heavy yawn he exited the elevator and made his way to his cubicle. He had returned to work about a week after the shootings, when Charlie had been moved from the ICU into a private room. David and Terry had helped him a lot over the past few weeks and he was eternally grateful for them on his team. He remembered when David had been added to his first case and both he and Terry thought he was only put on to spy for Merrick. Now he was so glad to be proven wrong. He was not only a great asset to his team, but was becoming a loyal friend.

Terry was different though. Ever since she'd arrived Don couldn't help but notice how different she was…how special. After the whole "pizza at the Laundromat" event he couldn't help but wonder what if they did become more than teammates? She had held his hand through so much and after all he had just been put through. What if she could be more to him than just Agent Lake?

It was on this thought that he started to pass by Terry's desk and had to stop. It was empty. Nothing was left on the desk, no photos were up. It was void of every personal item she had.

This was wrong. People only removed their stuff when…

Confused he turned and spotted David in his cubicle.

"Where's Terry?" he asked quickly not missing a beat.

David, who had been typing up an old report, looked up startled. "Uh…She just went down to the garage with her stuff," David said with a frown.

"Why? Where's she going?"

"Wait…didn't she tell you?" Taking in Don's blank face he continued, "She resigned… handed in her notice to Merrick this morning. She's going back to DC...I thought you knew."

He hadn't spoken to Terry in the past few days…hell he hadn't even been to the office for the past few days. Once Charlie's condition started to improve he had taken most of his time to help his father around the house or sit with his brother at the hospital. Terry showed up from time to time, sometimes with David. It wasn't until now that he noticed how her eyes had seemed to change when she looked at him and how her smile seemed to fade more quickly. How did miss her leaving?

--

"Terry!"

She looked up as she finished loading her cardboard box into the back of her car. The voice echoed dully off the cement walls as the florescent lights tinged everything yellow. She turned slowly and there he was running from the elevator towards her.

She sighed and shut the trunk turning to lean against the back as he made his way towards her. His footfalls were loud and accusing. Terry didn't say anything as he stopped, breathing hard. His hair was mussed up and she felt the sudden urge to smile, but it faded quickly as she noticed the hurt in his eyes.

"You're leaving." He said it quietly, and even though he was a fair distance away she felt as if she'd been slapped.

Lowering her eyes she toed the dust on the ground. "Yea."

That one whispered word reverberated throughout Don's body.

"Without saying goodbye?"

The hurt in his voice was enough to drag her eyes back up.

"I'm sorry...I thought that it would be easier this way."

"What would be easier, Terry?" Don took a step forward.

Terry looked into his eyes trying to take them apart. They were filled with hurt, anger and a tinge of sadness. She remembered when he went into the school alone. She remembered hearing shots fired and thinking…

"I can't go through that again." The words were out before she knew what she was saying. Making sure their eyes were still connected she went on quietly. "I can't be the one standing on the sidelines wondering if…"

She broke of taking in the look of registration in Don's eyes. Hurriedly she went on feeling a sense of urgency to say everything.

"Charlie almost died…"

"I know that!" Don's voice was loud, but it wasn't anger that filled it, but a sense of desperation. "But he's alright now. He's home and…"

"Did you not see how close you were to losing him? That could've been you. That can _still_ be you!"

Don's face went slack as he once again had the image of his bloody brother lifeless on the tile. He was struck speechless for a moment trying to draw any defense he could, but failed. She couldn't be leaving him like this…

"Then you understand why I can't stay. Why I can't be the one watching you on the floor."

Those words froze Don to his core. With his head down he heard Terry push away from the car and take a few steps closer to him.

"I saw you fall completely apart when you thought you lost Charlie. Even I couldn't keep you together. By going back to DC I won't have to worry about that. My ex and I are willing to try to make things work. I won't have to worry about him and we might actually start a family."

He couldn't look at her. He felt cold. He felt an unfamiliar stinging in his eyes and stubbornly kept whatever composure he could. Terry was leaving him before anything could happen between them.

"Don…" Her hand appeared on his arm, warm and comforting. "I can't do this… not again. You know how it feels to be helpless for the one you love…"

He looked up. He saw that her blue eyes held tears that she was having trouble holding back. He felt completely useless at not being able to find anything to say. All words had left him. Deep down he felt that she was right. Why deny her happiness? If he loved her enough he could let her go. If he loved her enough he would give up his happiness for hers.

Still unable to find the words for anything he stiffly nodded his head.

She seemed surprised by the gesture and she let a tear escape.

He did love her...

She wrapped her arms up and around his neck as her lips found his. Don didn't pull away but returned the kiss with an equal force. The kiss was firm and given with a sense desperation and grief. It wasn't a kiss that would lead to many others, but one that stood simply for a final good-bye.

When they broke apart she leaned up and whispered, "Thank you" in his ear. Wiping her eyes she turned and got into her car. As she pulled away he was standing where she had left him, a deeper look of heartache on his face.

--

Don entered his childhood home with slumped shoulders and blank eyes. He hung his coat on the wall and took off his shoes. He didn't want to be there. The only reason he actually showed is because he promised Charlie. It hurt to know that Terry would've been there if…

Sounds of laughter emerged from the family room and he spotted Charlie in the same place on the sofa, Alan sitting in his recliner across the room, Amita on the floor near Charlie's head, and David, with a beer, and Larry, with a glass of milk, on the other couch. Alan got up as Don entered and went to pick up the dishes from the coffee table that were left over from dinner.

"Donnie," Alan greeted as he spotting him as he walked toward the kitchen, arms laden with dishes. "So nice of you to join us." He had a smile on his face and his eyes had gained back the light that was lost on all those days filled waiting. "We were beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten about us."

Don had put his smile in place once again, trying to think of any excuse to leave early so he could start on his newly purchased bottle of Jack Daniels. Nothing popped into his head. He couldn't use the same old bullshit excuse that they were in the middle of a huge case. David was there, and Don wasn't sure he would go along with the lie.

He repressed a sigh and turned to his father. "Hey, Dad, how're they doing in there?"

"Well so far we've had some wonderful dinner conversation about the cosmos and something about a string theory." Alan shook his head as he pushed through the kitchen door, with Don in tow. "But now you're here so maybe you can help David and I make sense of their chatter."

He dropped the plates into the sink and straightened with a sigh. "Help yourself, we saved plenty." Don turned back to his father with a cold bottle from the fridge.

"No thanks, Dad. Maybe later."

"Are you sure? You know Charlie will try to finish it off by tomorrow." Alan's forehead creased. It wasn't like his son to show up for dinner and not eat.

Don bent the cap off with the bottle opener from the kitchen drawer, and forced a truer smile to show.

"Yea, let him have his lasagna as long as I get a rib-eye one of these days." He backed his way out of the kitchen with a swig of his beer, leaving Alan alone with the dishes.

He made his way to sit at the foot of Charlie's couch. His younger brother had been in the middle of a conversation with Larry about black hole or some other space vortex, when he stopped and addressed Don with a grin.

"Told you, you'd be late." He was such a cocky fellow. He always loved to be right.

"Yea, good thing I didn't put money on that bet." Don took another gulp. "You guys seemed to have survived quite well without me."

"Barely," David spoke up from his side of the room. "I think I've heard enough about the cosmos for one night."

They laughed, Don smiled. He seemed to be the only one able to shuck out only a smile. They didn't have reasons to hold back their joy…he did. Why was he never able to keep the women he loved close to him? From that point on he became a spectator, bent only on watching the conversations unfold. He'd respond when addressed and would smile more deeply when prompted, but he mainly kept to himself and his beer.

His father returned from dishes duty halfway through a gentle argument about some debate in the Cal-Sci newsletter, which had Amita smirking and Larry looking indigent by the end of it. It was then that Charlie yawned a deep yawn and everyone suddenly decided it was best to leave the young genius to rest.

Don didn't like admitting that he was glad to finally be let go to his apartment but after all Jack Daniels was waiting for him. He stood with the rest and stretched. His bottle was about a quarter full.

"We're so glad that you all were able to stop by…" Alan was saying from his place by the door. Amita, Larry, and David sent their thanks his way as well and gave good wishes to Charlie who was smiling all over. Amita had kissed his nose before moving away from him.

Alan moved towards the door and handed out coats to his guests. "Don, wasn't Terry supposed to be coming?"

Don felt his insides suddenly constrict. He knew how fond Alan was of her and felt like a failure for letting her go. David looked over at his boss quickly, but stayed loyally silent.

"Terry's gone, Dad."

He brought the bottle to his lips and finished it off.

"She's moving back to D.C."

--

Don made it back to his apartment after staying to make sure Charlie was able to fall asleep peacefully. He knew that his younger brother had nightmares about that day too. Sometimes while in the hospital he called out in his sleep leaving Don to slowly shake him awake. The helpless feeling was almost as bad as watching his brother bleeding on the floor…knowing that there was nothing he could do but wait.

He was on his sofa again, in his sparsely decorated apartment. He had no need for personal touches. No one stopped by, and he was rarely there for anything but sleep. It wasn't his home. It was more like a desperate refuge from everything he was outside of his walls. He didn't have to be stoic or strong in the bare rooms.

The television was off that night and he sat there with his good old friend Jack thinking.

It was at that time where he relived all the thoughts and feelings he had that day three weeks ago. It had been so much easier to bear them when he knew Terry was there to pull him back into his old self. She kept him together…now he was falling apart.

He felt the guilt of being too weak to make her stay topped with the aftermath of Charlie's injuries…how even though he took great strides to become an FBI agent he was still unable to protect and keep those who matter most to him. There was something else that both he and Charlie had in common…their uncanny ability to hold onto guilt.

Don unwillingly fell into a new set of restless drunken dreams not realizing that Charlie was sharing them from his own world away. Both had gained the feeling they shared as children when they knew their mother was in their doorway watching over them as they slept.

Their nightmares' endings that night somehow seemed brighter.

--

A/N: Well that's it. I know… not the best. I really just wanted to end this and finish up/continue my other slightly abandoned works. I truly have missed this fandom. I meant to post this a week ago, but again found myself intensely busy. So busy that its taken me 3 years and 10 days to complete this. Looking back on all of this I really find it strange to remember that when I started this fic I had been struggling in my Honors English class Freshman year, been moved down into the CP English course for my sophmore year, but then worked my way up to the AP level for Junior and Senior year. Also happy to say that I got an A+ on my final paper, which I believe is the best thing I have ever written, and recieved 2nd place in the local city poetry contest.

Patty- I just finished my finals and graduated a week ago…and if that doesn't make me busy enough I'm about to have my 18th birthday and heads off to another mission trip, this time to PA. Next year I'm heading off to major in secondary education and biology. So very excited!!

So yup--that's all of this fic I suppose. Going to try and scrounge up what I can to finish up "Virus" and "Concealed." Those two will be the death of me I swear--so hope you review but if not hope that you've at least enjoyed.

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


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